vanessa Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun painted beauty and red admiral
    genus Vanessa.

WordNet

Van*es"sa noun
Etymology
Probably from Swift's poem of Cadenus and Vanessa. See Vanessa, in the Dictionary of Noted Names in Fiction.
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of handsomely colored butterflies belonging to Vanessa and allied genera. Many of these species have the edges of the wings irregularly scalloped.

Webster 1913