a. and sb. [f. prec. + -AN.]
A. adj. Of or pertaining to an aurelia; gen. gold-colored, golden.
1791. E. Darwin, Bot. Gard., I. 134. Glad Zephyr … pausing flings Soft showers of roses from Aurelian [? butterfly] wings.
1883. C. Holder, in Harper’s Mag., Jan., 181/2. The … dysmorphosa … illumines it with a light of deep aurelian hue.
B. sb. A collector and breeder of insects, especially of butterflies and moths; a lepidopterist.
1778. M. Harris (title), Aurelian; or, Natural History of English Insects, namely, Moths and Butterflies … and their standard names, as given and established by the Society of Aurelians.
1816. Kirby & Sp., Entomol. (1843), II. 244. A butterfly called by Aurelians the large Skipper.
