|
|
Home > Special topics > Etymology
|
Etymology
n. the origin or derivation of a word; an account of the history of a particular word or element of a word (from dictionary.com).
There are two theories on the derivation of flamingo.
The word may come from the Latin word for flame, flamma, via Old Provencal flamenc. This could be based on the notion that when a flamingo takes flight, the flash if its crimson wings is like a burst of flame; or that when in heat haze, a flock of flamingos may resembled a fire.
An alternative theory is that flamingo is derived from the Spanish word flamenca meaning 'of a ruddy complexion, flesh-coloured.' In the 14th century, the Spanish used the word flamenca to describe the Flemings (people of Flanders, Belgium) who impressed the Spanish with their pink complexions. The Spanish word for a 'bird of a hue reminiscent of the Flemings' was flamengo, hence our flamingo.
(Source: Edelstein 2002)
Phoenicopterus ...roseus, ...ruber, ...chilensis | ^ top |
| phoinix = phoinikos (Greek): |
deep purple or crimson; the word derives from the fact that the discovery of this colour was ascribed to the Phoenicians |
| pteron (Greek): | feathers or wing |
| roseus (Latin): |
pink or rose coloured; this word was often used to describe the colour of dawn, and Lucretius used it in this way in his De Rerum Natura |
| ruber = rubor (Latin): |
red or redness |
| chilensis: |
of Chile
|
So...
Phoenicopterus roseus = crimson winged, rose coloured bird
Phoenicopterus ruber = crimson winged, red coloured bird
Phoenicopterus chilensis = crimson winged bird of Chile
Phoeniconaias ...minor | ^ top |
| phoinix = phoinikos (Greek): |
deep purple or crimson; the word derives from the fact that the discovery of this colour was ascribed to the Phoenicians |
| naias (Latin): | water nymph; in Greek mythology Nãias was a water nymph who lived in and presided over brooks, springs and fountains |
| minor (Latin): |
small or smaller
|
So...
Phoeniconaias minor = small crimson water nymph
Phoenicoparrus ...andinus, ...jamesi | ^ top |
| phoinix = phoinikos (Greek): |
deep purple or crimson; the word derives from the fact that the discovery of this colour was ascribed to the Phoenicians |
| parrus (Latin): | a bird of ill omen and variously translated as ‘perhaps the owl’ or ‘perhaps the wheatear’ but any connection has been obscured |
| andinus (Latin): |
of the Andes |
| jamesi: |
For Henry Berkeley James; James was an English naturalist who funded an expedition to Chile that collected a specimen of a new flamingo, which Philip Sclater described in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society (1886) and named James's Flamingo |
So...
Phoenicoparrus andinus = crimson bird of ill omen of the Andes
Phoenicoparrus jamesi = crimson bird of ill omen discovered by James
| |
|
Related Links
|
