Edit page | Page history | Printable version

progne

(Science: zoology) A swallow.

A genus of swallows including the purple martin. See Martin.

An American butterfly (Polygonia, or vanessa, Progne). It is orange and black above, grayish beneath, with an L-shaped silver mark on the hind wings.

Synonym: gray comma.

Origin: L, a swallow, traditionally said to be fr. Progne (The sister of Philomela), who was changed into a swallow, Gr.