Damselfly

//ˈdæmzəlflaɪ// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any of various insects of the suborder Zygoptera that have long slender bodies, and are similar to dragonflies but having wings folded when at rest.
  2. 2
    slender non-stinging insect similar to but smaller than the dragonfly but having wings folded when at rest wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
darning needledarning needledevil's darning needledevil's darning needleinsect

Etymology

From damsel + fly, where damsel ultimately from Vulgar Latin *domnicella (whence also French demoiselle, Portuguese donzelinha). Compare Danish vandnymfe, Dutch juffer, Swedish jungfruslända, Welsh mursen. Also compare ladybird, ladybug, nymph.

Related phrases

pond damselfly

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.