Where does “kingbird” come from?
kingbird (English) comes from English King, from Middle English king, from Old English cyning, from Old English tūn, from Proto-West Germanic tūn, from Proto-Germanic tūną, from Gaulish dunum, from Proto-Celtic dūnom — smoke; mist, haze.
kingbird (English): A group of large insectivorous passerine birds of...
Definitions
- A group of large insectivorous passerine birds of...
Ancestry of “kingbird”, step by step
kingbird traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English King
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | King | radiotelephony clear-code word for the letter K |
| 2 | Middle English | king | king monarch |
| 3 | Old English | cyning | king |
| 4 | Old English | tūn | enclosure, yard; place; dwelling |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | tūn | fence |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | tūną | fence; enclosure |
| 7 | Gaulish | dunum | fort; hill, hillfort |
| 8 | Proto-Celtic | dūnom | stronghold, rampart |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰewh₂- | smoke; mist, haze |