Etymology Explorer › Latin

Where does “Fauna” come from?

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

Fauna (Latin): Roman goddess

Definitions

  1. Roman goddess

Ancestry of “Fauna”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1LatinFaunusFaunus
2New Latinfaunaanimals
3EnglishavifaunaThe birds, or all the kinds of birds, inhabiting...
4Latinavisa bird; omen, portent; dative/ablative plural of...
5Proto-Italicawisbird
6Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂éwisbird

Words derived from “Fauna”

  • fauna
  • faunal
  • megafauna
  • macrofauna
  • microfauna
  • epifaunal
  • mesofauna
  • megafaunal
  • epifauna
  • macrofaunal
  • faunistic
  • herpetofauna
  • ichthyofauna
  • malacofauna
  • meiofaunal
  • microfaunal
  • defaunation
  • faunally
  • entomofauna
  • herpetofaunal
  • paleofauna
  • ichthyofaunal
  • ichnofauna
  • paleofaunal
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₂éwis →