Where does “fauna” come from?

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

fauna (Finnish): fauna

Definitions

  1. fauna

Ancestry of “fauna”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1New Latinfaunaanimals
2EnglishavifaunaThe birds, or all the kinds of birds, inhabiting...
3Latinavisa bird; omen, portent; dative/ablative plural of...
4Proto-Italicawisbird
5Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂éwisbird
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₂éwis →
fauna — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer