Where does “beija-flor” come from?

beija-flor (Portuguese) comes from Portuguese flôr, from Old Portuguese flor, from Latin florem, from Latin flos, from Proto-Italic flōs, from Proto-Indo-European bʰleh₃-s, from Proto-Indo-European bʰleh₃-, from Proto-Indo-European bʰel-.

beija-flor (Portuguese): hummingbird

Definitions

  1. hummingbird

Ancestry of “beija-flor”, step by step

beija-flor traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Portuguese flôr

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1PortugueseflôrSuperseded spelling of flor; Misspelling of flor
2Old Portugueseflorflower
3Latinfloremaccusative singular of flōs
4Latinflosflower, blossom; the best kind or part of...
5Proto-Italicflōsflower, blossom
6Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰleh₃-sflower, blossom
7Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰleh₃-bloom, flower
8Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰel-to sound; to speak, roar, bark; shiny, white; to...
9Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰōl-—

via Portuguese beijar

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Portuguesebeijarto kiss
2Old Portuguesebeijar—
3Latinbāsiōto kiss
4Latin-ōsuffixed to nouns or adjectives. Originally a-stem nouns. Later extended to nouns with other stems. Forms regular first-conjugation verbs
5Proto-Indo-European-ōDerives nouns from roots
Every word from Proto-Indo-European bʰōl- →Every word from Proto-Indo-European bʰel- →Every word from Proto-Indo-European bʰleh₃- →