English Explanatory Dictionary

Vanessa

English dictionary entry

Meanings

name
  1. A female given name originating as a coinage.
noun
  1. Any butterfly of the genus Vanessa.

Pronunciation

/vəˈnɛsə/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-Vanessa.wav

Word forms

Vanessa vanessas

Etymology

Coined by Jonathan Swift in the 18th century as a pseudonym for a lady friend named Esther Vanhomrigh (or Van Homrigh), an Irish woman of Dutch descent, by taking the Dutch preposition van from her surname and adding -essa (perhaps influenced by the first syllable of Esther) or possibly a corruption of Latin Venus.

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