butterfly [OE] The word butter has been known in Britain since Anglo-Saxon times. It goes back to Greek bouturon, and before that possibly to the Scythians, an ancient people from the area of the Black Sea. The butterfly may get its name from the brimstone butterfly and other yellow or cream-coloured butterflies, but its name, also found in other Germanic languages, has never been satisfactorily explained. The idea of likening a feeling of nervousness to having a butterfly or butterflies in one’s stomach dates from the early 20th century, though the exact formulation butterflies in one’s stomach is not recorded before the 1940s. See also chaos.