# Ladybird



## gab9

Hello,

I know my question isn't so smart but why did they choose the following word for Ladybird or Ladybug, I mean it's obvious there should be a reason with the Torah if yes, I'd like to know.

פָּרַת מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּנוּ : ladybird


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## Haskol

To the best of my knowledge it comes from Yiddish. In Yiddish the animal was called that or the little Mashiach, simply naming it after Jewish religious figures that begin with an "m". This is because in European languages it is generally associated with the virgin Mary (Ladybird being short for Our Lady's bird), whose name also starts with "m".


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## arbelyoni

The Hebrew name is indeed a loan translation from Yiddish ("משה רבנוס קיעלע", little cow of Moshe Rabenu), which for itslef is a Judaized version of other names in Europe for the bug that bear religious associations.
The Hebrew term was probably coined in 1868 by Mendele Mokher Seforim.

Read more here and here.


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## MuttQuad

Here's another idea of the English names' etymology, per my dictionary: [Probably from its seven spots being considered a symbol of the seven sorrows of the Virgin Mary.]

It's also known, in English, as a lady beetle.


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## origumi

MuttQuad said:


> [Probably from its seven spots being considered a symbol of the seven sorrows of the Virgin Mary.]


Those "7" names are funny because coccinella septempunctata (מושית השבע, ארגמנית שבע הנקודות) has 8 spots


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## Drink

origumi said:


> Those "7" names are funny because coccinella septempunctata (מושית השבע, ארגמנית שבע הנקודות) has 8 spots



Umm... I only see seven: http://www.zin.ru/animalia/coleoptera/images/h_800/coccinella_septempunctata_b.jpg
Also see Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coccinella_septempunctata


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## origumi

Drink said:


> Umm... I only see seven


But in the Hebrew Wikipedia:

למושית השבע שני זוגות כנפיים עדינות שצבען אדום, והן מנוקדות ב*שמונה* נקודות שחורות, ארבע על כל כנף.


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## Drink

origumi said:


> But in the Hebrew Wikipedia:
> 
> למושית השבע שני זוגות כנפיים עדינות שצבען אדום, והן מנוקדות ב*שמונה* נקודות שחורות, ארבע על כל כנף.



It must be a mistake, unless you count the one spot in the middle as two spots because it is divided by the wings.


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## origumi

Drink said:


> It must be a mistake, unless you count the one spot in the middle as two spots because it is divided by the wings.


Exactly, there are 8 spots that look like 7.


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## Drink

origumi said:


> Exactly, there are 8 spots that look like 7.



I would still consider it one spot.


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