Where does “wading bird” come from?
wading bird (English) comes from English wading, from English -ing, from Old English -ing, from Old English -tūn, from Old English tūn, from Proto-West Germanic tūn, from Proto-Germanic tūną, from Gaulish dunum — smoke; mist, haze.
wading bird (English): Any of various long-legged birds, such as cranes (Gruidae), herons (Ardeidae), storks (Ciconiidae), or flamingos (Phoenicopteridae), that wade in shallow water in search of food
Definitions
- Any of various long-legged birds, such as cranes (Gruidae), herons (Ardeidae), storks (Ciconiidae), or flamingos (Phoenicopteridae), that wade in shallow water in search of food
Ancestry of “wading bird”, step by step
wading bird traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English wading
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | wading | Appropriate to wade in; Which wades; present... |
| 2 | English | -ing | Used to form gerunds, a type of verbal nouns,... |
| 3 | Old English | -ing | Forming nouns from verbs, indicating action,... |
| 4 | Old English | -tūn | homestead, village, town |
| 5 | Old English | tūn | enclosure, yard; place; dwelling |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | tūn | fence |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | tūną | fence; enclosure |
| 8 | Gaulish | dunum | fort; hill, hillfort |
| 9 | Proto-Celtic | dūnom | stronghold, rampart |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰewh₂- | smoke; mist, haze |