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bluebottle

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bluebottle¹

Where it comes from

From Middle English blewbothel, from blew (“blue”) + bothel (“flower in the Asteraceae family”). In sense 2, a shortening of bluebottle fly. The fly was so named because it resembles the bluebottle flower in colour. The other transferred senses likewise have reference to the colour of the respective referents.

noun bluebottles · blue-bottle

  1. A cornflower, a plant that grows in grain fields, Centaurea cyanus.
  2. Any of various blowflies of the genus Calliphora that have an iridescent metallic-blue body and make a loud buzzing noise when flying. The flies that troubled me most were a large kind of blue-bottle or blow-fly. These settled in swarms on my bird skins when first put out to dry, filling their plumage with masses of eggs, which, if neglected, the next day produced maggots.
  3. A blue ant, Diamma bicolor, a parasitic wasp native to Australia.
  4. Any of various large papilionid butterflies of the genus Graphium, also called triangles, etc.
  5. Australia, Ireland, UK, derogatory, slang A police officer. I will have you as soundly swing’d for this, you bluebottle rogue!
  6. derogatory, obsolete A bluestocking. To-morrow there is a party of purple at the “blue” Miss Berry’s. Shall I go? um! — I don’t much affect your blue-bottles ; — but one ought to be civil.

bluebottle²

Where it comes from

From blue + bottle, in reference to the creature's bottle-like bladder.

noun bluebottles · blue-bottle

  1. A marine jellyfish of the genus Physalia, which includes Physalia physalis, the Portuguese man-of-war, and Physalia utriculus, the Pacific man-of-war; a man-of-war.

Translations

Every language

noun blowfly of the genus Calliphora

한국어검정파리 geomjeongpari
Portuguêsvarejeira azul
DeutschSchmeißfliege
Ελληνικάκρεατόμυγα kreatómyga
Русскийтру́пная му́ха trúpnaja múxa

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MLA

"bluebottle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/bluebottle. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

bluebottle. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/bluebottle

Chicago

"bluebottle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/bluebottle.

BibTeX
@misc{bluebottle_2026,
  title = {bluebottle},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/bluebottle},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}