Words for firefly
Firefly in different languages
People everywhere have noticed fireflies, and almost every language has its own word for them. Many of those words are about light: a lamp, a glowing ember, fire, or moonlight. Here are 50 of them, starting with the Philippines, where this site began.
In the Philippines
The Philippines has many languages, and many words for firefly. Tagalog alitaptap and Kapampangan alipatpat come from the same old word, *qali-pətpət, which linguists trace back thousands of years to Proto-Malayo-Polynesian, the ancestor of most languages in the Philippines and Indonesia. Further south, aninipot is shared by Cebuano, Waray, Hiligaynon, Bikol and Aklanon.
- alitaptap
- TagalogFrom Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qali-pətpət, with two sounds swapped places over time (metathesis).
- alipatpat
- KapampanganKeeps the sounds in their older order, close to Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qali-pətpət.
- kulalanti
- Ilocano
- aninipot
- Cebuano, Waray, Central Bikol and Aklanon
- aninípot
- Hiligaynon
- bukatkat
- Waray
- keninipet
- Palawano (Brooke's Point)
- lipat-lipat
- Dupaningan Agta
Across Asia
- kunang-kunang
- Indonesian
- kelip-kelip
- Malay
- đom đóm
- VietnameseA doubled word built on đóm, a root that is no longer used on its own.
- 萤火虫yínghuǒchóng
- Chinese (Mandarin)
- 蛍 (ほたる)hotaru
- JapaneseAn old Japanese word, already used in the Man'yōshū poetry collection, compiled after 759 CE.
- 반딧불이banditburi
- Korean
- 개똥벌레gaettongbeolle
- KoreanA compound of gaettong (dog droppings) and beolle (bug).
- หิ่งห้อยhìng-hôi
- Thai
- អំពិលអំពែកampɨl-ɑmpɛɛk
- Khmer
- जुगनूjugnū
- HindiInherited from Sanskrit jyotiriṅgaṇa, built on a root meaning "to shine".
- জোনাকিjonaki
- BengaliFrom jonak, "moonlight", which goes back to Sanskrit jyotsnā.
- மின்மினிப்பூச்சிminmiṉippūcci
- TamilA compound of minmini (firefly) and pūcci (insect).
- کرم شبتابkerm-e šab-tâb
- Persian
- גַּחְלִילִיתgaḥlilít
- HebrewA coined word from gaḥelet, "glowing ember", with a suffix meaning "little".
- يَرَاعَةyarāʿa
- Arabic
- ateş böceği
- Turkish"Fire insect": ateş (fire) and böcek (insect).
Across Europe
- Glühwürmchen
- German"Little glow-worm": glühen (to glow), Wurm (worm) and the suffix -chen (little).
- vuurvlieg
- Dutch"Fire fly": vuur (fire) and vlieg (fly).
- luciérnaga
- SpanishFrom Latin lucerna, "lamp".
- lucciola
- ItalianUltimately from Latin luceō, "to shine".
- luciole
- FrenchBorrowed from the Italian lucciola.
- vaga-lume
- Portuguese"Wandering light": vagar (to wander) and lume (light), a polite change to an older, ruder word.
- ildflue
- Danish"Fire fly": ild (fire) and flue (fly).
- lysmask
- Swedish"Shine worm": lysa (to shine) and mask (worm).
- tulikärpänen
- Finnish"Fire fly": tuli (fire) and kärpänen (fly).
- jaanimardikas
- Estonian"John's beetle": Jaan (John) and mardikas (beetle).
- szentjánosbogár
- Hungarian"St John's beetle": Szent János (John the Baptist) and bogár (beetle).
- świetlik
- PolishFrom światło, "light".
- světluška
- CzechFrom světlo, "light".
- светлячокsvetlyachók
- RussianA diminutive ("little") form of svetlyák.
- πυγολαμπίδαpygolampída
- Greek
- licurici
- RomanianProbably from licuri, "to gleam, shimmer".
- pryf tân
- Welsh
Africa, the Americas and the Pacific
- kimetameta
- Swahili
- ukhanyikhanyi
- Zulu
- koukouy
- Haitian Creole
- peenie wallie
- Jamaican Creole
- ninakuru
- Quechua
- cocay
- Yucatec Maya
- icpitl
- Nahuatl
- nalo ʻuiʻuiki
- Hawaiian
What the words have in common
Many languages call the firefly a fire fly or a fire insect: Danish ildflue, Dutch vuurvlieg, Finnish tulikärpänen and Turkish ateş böceği. Others name it after light itself, like Polish świetlik and Czech světluška, or after a lamp, like Spanish luciérnaga, from the Latin for lamp. In Hungary and Estonia it is St John's beetle, because fireflies shine around St John's Day in late June. And in Hebrew, the word comes from a glowing ember.
The words come from Wiktionary's translations of "firefly", and each meaning from that word's own Wiktionary entry. Where the entry gives no origin, we show the word without one rather than guess. Wiktionary