Where does “megafauna” come from?
megafauna (English) comes from English Fauna, from Latin Faunus, from New Latin fauna, from English avifauna, from Latin avis, from Proto-Italic awis, from Proto-Indo-European h₂éwis — bird.
megafauna (English): The large animals of a given region or time,...
Definitions
- The large animals of a given region or time,...
Ancestry of “megafauna”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Fauna | The goddess of animals, nature, spring and fertility; she is also the consort of Faunus |
| 2 | Latin | Faunus | Faunus horned god of the forest, plains and fields |
| 3 | New Latin | fauna | animals |
| 4 | English | avifauna | The birds, or all the kinds of birds, inhabiting... |
| 5 | Latin | avis | a bird; omen, portent; dative/ablative plural of... |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | awis | bird |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂éwis | bird |