Where does “avifauna” come from?

avifauna (English) comes from Latin avis, from Proto-Italic awis, from Proto-Indo-European h₂éwis — bird.

avifauna (English): The birds, or all the kinds of birds, inhabiting...

Definitions

  1. The birds, or all the kinds of birds, inhabiting...

Ancestry of “avifauna”, step by step

avifauna traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Latin avis

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinavisa bird; omen, portent; dative/ablative plural of...
2Proto-Italicawisbird
3Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂éwisbird

via Latin fauna

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinfaunaanimals

Words derived from “avifauna”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₂éwis →Every word from Proto-Italic awis →Every word from Latin avis →