English
false owlet moth
From false + owlet moth.
A compound of false + owlet moth
Latin fallō ‘to deceive’
Latin falsus ‘counterfeit, false’
Old English fals ‘false; fraud’
Middle English false
English false
The story
False owlet moths are in the family Drepanidae, whereas the 'true' owlet moths are in Noctuidae.
Today it means
noun Any moth of the subfamily Thyatirinae, resembling moths of the family Noctuidae.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / false owlet moth