From “canary” to “ibis” to “pigeon,” this chapter on the natural world reveals that birds who are not of a feather can still flock together—when it comes to tracing their word origins.

Aviator/Aviary

Both words are derived from avis, the Latin term for “bird.” Since the person who operates an airplane is similar to a bird using its wings, “aviator” became a synonym for pilot. When a word was sought to describe a place for keeping birds, it was decided to modify the Latin term avis, and “aviary” was formed.

Balsa

In the 16th century, Spanish sailors off the coast of South America noticed how well the rafts used by the natives floated. They sat high on the surface, unlike their own that settled into the water when any weight was put on board. To name the tree logs that the natives lashed together with vines to make their rafts, the Spanish used their noun balsa, meaning “raft” or “float.” Today, “balsa” still refers to the tropical American tree with extremely light but strong wood.

For a good example of balsa, go to your local toy store. Many toy planes are made of this lightweight wood.

Biology

Biology is the study of plants and animals. The prefix “bio” is derived from the Greek noun bios, meaning “life,” while the Greek noun logos, means “word,” “thought,” or “statement.”

Bonsai

This term means “tray-planted” and designates dwarf trees and the art of growing and training these trees in containers. Although the art of bonsai originated in China centuries ago, the Japanese are the leaders in the field today.

Canary

When the ancient Romans first landed on what is now called the Canary Islands, they were amazed at the number of wild dogs roaming the islands. They used their term canaries, “relating to a dog,” to name the islands the Canaria Insula. (Insula is the Latin word for “island.”) Later, when ornithologists were deciding what to name the little yellow finches that were native to these islands, they used the name of their homeland as the root. Thus, the term “canary” was created.

Ebony

The tree that produced the hard black ebony wood that was so highly prized in Egypt and the ancient Mediterranean world is technically called dalbergia melanoxylon. It was not native to Egypt but imported from the lands to the south. The Egyptian word for wood, hbny, was adapted in Hebrew to habnim and in Greek to ebenos. Although “ebony” definitely used the Greek term as its root, further study may prove that hbny may have come from a language used further south of Egypt.

Geyser

Hot springs are a natural phenomenon in Iceland, where in an area of approximately two square miles about 100 hot springs pour forth from the ground. To name a hot spring that throws out jets of water, the Icelandic people used their term geysa, meaning “to rush furiously,” and formed the word geysir, the root of our English word.

The world’s first permanent parliament (the Althing) was established in Iceland in the year 930. Many countries have a form of parliament, an assembly whose responsibilities include making laws.

Gladiolus/Gladiator

Next time you see a bunch of gladioluses, look closely at the long, sword-shaped spikes of the flowers and at the leaves. They resemble the short little sword used by gladiators, and their shape gave the plant its name. The ancient Romans used their noun for “sword,” gladius, as the base for the flower’s name. They inserted the letters “ol,” which were used to mean “small,” and formed gladiolus.

Gladiatorial combat was first introduced to Rome in 264 b.c. In the decades that followed, prisoners of war, slaves, and condemned criminals were trained to fight one another in public arenas. They became known as gladiators, which in Latin literally means “one who uses a sword.”

Gum

The acadia tree is known by its clusters of yellow or white flowers. Also characteristic of several varieties found in Egypt is a substance found within the bark that has a sticky, fluid consistency. This gummy substance, which the ancient Egyptians called kmyt, was used chiefly as incense and glue in the mummification process. By the fifth century b.c., Greeks visiting and trading in Egypt who knew and used kymt had adapted the Egyptian term to kommi. The changes continued through the centuries. The Romans spelled it gummi, and the French later adapted it to gomme. Gradually, “gum” came to refer to the gummy substances, known also as resins, that are found in trees and shrubs beyond Egypt’s borders.

Ibis

The ibis is a large wading bird found mainly in tropical regions. It has long legs and a long, slender, curved bill. The Egyptians used the term hb to refer to this stork-like bird, which they considered sacred to Thoth, their god of reading, writing, and learning. How they pronounced this term is not exactly known, since they wrote using only consonant sounds. Many Egyptologists and etymologists believe that hb was pronounced “hibey.”

The first Egyptian pharaoh to be buried in the Valley of the Kings was Thutmose I (active 1524–1518 b.c.)

Jade

In China, jade is known as yu, “fairest of stones.” It is one of the country’s most treasured materials. The Western version of jade is much less dramtic and probably originated with the Spanish conquest of the New World in the 16th century. When the Spaniards first discovered jade in the Yucatan Peninsula of Central America, they called it piedra de ijada, meaning “stone of the side,” because it was believed that it could heal the pain in one’s side. The term ijada was later adapted to “jade” by French and English speakers. In the West, jade came to describe the apple-green color characteristic of jadeite, a rock that has never been found in China. The main type of jade used by the Chinese, especially during the Han dynasty, was nephrite, whose colors range from deep, greenish black to pale, greenish white.

According to history, for centuries the Chinese believed that jade could prevent decay. Some even thought that jade could help them live forever. They distilled it in liquid and drank it.

Jungle

In Sanskrit, the term jangala was used to describe dry desert land. As various languages based on Sanskrit developed, jangala continued to be used, but more in reference to land areas that could not be cultivated. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when India was part of the British Empire, the British began to use jangala to refer to the lush forest of India. Although this use seems the exact opposite of the word’s original meaning, it is important to remember that neither type of land can be cultivated, one because of dry soil and the other because of thick growth. English gradually adapted jangala to “jungle.”

India is currently the world’s seventh-largest country and the second most populous. India is also home to one of the world’s oldest civilizations, which originally began in the Indus Valley.

Lilac

In ancient Sanskrit, the term nila means “to appear very dark.” Nila entered the Persian language as nilak, meaning “bluish.” The Arabs later adopted the term, changing it to laylak. At some point, laylak came to be associated with a flowering plant. When the Spanish introduced this plant to England sometime in the 17th century, it arrived with the name “lilac,” a term that now refers to both the plant and its color.

Mistletoe

For centuries, mistletoe was considered a sacred plant because it flourished on bare-branched trees throughout the winter. Most etymologists agree that the “toe” of “mistletoe” traces its roots to the Anglo-Saxon term tan, meaning “twig.” The origin of “mistle” is not so easy to trace. In Old English, mistel means “fog” or “mist,” but many believe that the German mist, which means “dung,” is the root word because tradition says that this plant grew from bird droppings.

Oasis

An oasis is a fertile place in the desert. The ancient Greeks recognized this and used the word to mean just that. Etymologists believe that “oasis” traces its roots to the Egyptian noun wahet, meaning a “caldron” or “large kettle.” Just as a caldron is a deep pot, so an oasis is a deep impression in the desert.

Parsley

In ancient Greece, the victors in athletic contests were crowned with wreaths of leaves. For certain events, a garland of parsley was awarded the victor. The Greek word for “parsley” was petroselinon. However, as the centuries passed and other languages began to add foreign terms into their vocabularies, the original Greek form became peresil in French, from which came our “parsley.”

According to an old English proverb, “Parsley grows for the wicked, but not for the just.” The ancient Romans believed that eating parsley allowed a person to drink without becoming drunk.

Peat

Peat is a partially decayed, moisture-absorbing plant matter that is found in ancient bogs and swamps. It is used for fuel and to cover and protect plants. The term most likely traces its roots first to the Medieval Latin form peta, which was probably used to denote a “piece of land.” Peta, in turn, probably derives from the Celtic pett, meaning “piece.”

Pekingese

The Pekingese breed of dog traces it roots to China. “Peking” is a western term used in the past to represent Beijing, the capital of China. A Pekingese dog is easily recognizable with its pug nose, protruding eyes, small body, short legs, and long silky hair.

Pelican

It is believed that the Greek philosopher Aristotle first used the term pelekan when referring to a woodpecker. Since pelekan is a derivative of the Greek word pelekos, meaning “ax,” it is thought the name was used to designate a bird with an interesting beak. In time, however, the term was used to represent not the woodpecker, but the pelican, whose beak formation is even more extraordinary.

Pheasant

Since this bird came from an area near the river Phasis (today’s Rion), which flows into the Black Sea, the Greeks named it phaisianos. English ornithologists merely adapted the term and formed “pheasant.”

Pigeon

This name traces its origin back through Middle English to the Old French term pyjoun, which meant “a young bird,” especially a young dove. Pyjoun was, in turn, a derivative of the late Latin term pipionem, “a chirping bird.” The original Latin form had been pipiare, a verb the Romans used to represent the peeping and chirping of a young bird.

Plover

The name of this bird traces its history through the Old French term plover to the Latin term pluvial, meaning “rain.” Some say pluvia was used as the base because the spotty upper feathers of the bird remind one of rain or of something in the rain. Etymologists do not agree, and no definitive reason for its name has been given.

Ruminate

“Ruminate” describes how an animal chews its food, swallows it into its first stomach, brings it up through its throat, and chews it again more thoroughly. When we see cows doing this, we say they are chewing their cud, or ruminating, from the Latin term rumen, meaning “throat.” “Ruminate” also describes the thought process when humans reconsider action or ideas a second or third time.

Saffron

Saffron is made from a species of crocus that has purple flowers. Since approximately 40,000 blossoms are needed to make an ounce of saffron, it is one of the world’s most expensive spices. English adapted the Old French spelling of the spice, safran, which, in turn, traced its roots through the Medieval Latin term safranum to the Arabic name for the spice, za’faran.

Saffron is native to Asia Minor, a peninsula in west Asia that makes up most of what is present-day Turkey.

Steppe

Steppe, from the Russian styep’, refers to the broad expanse of grassland, broken up in some areas by mountains. The Russian steppe extends from Hungary eastward across the Ukraine and southern Russia into central Asia and Manchuria.

Typhoon

A violent, cyclone-type storm originating in the west Pacific, especially in the South China Sea, is known as a typhoon. The name traces its roots to the Chinese phrase taifeng, meaning “great wind.”

Volcano

The ancient Greeks and Romans worshiped many gods. One was Vulcan, the son of Jupiter, king of the Roman gods. A skilled workman and the patron of all artisans, Vulcan was usually pictured in his workshop with his anvil and forge. No one knew the exact location of the shop, but the Romans believed it must have been located wherever fire burst forth from within the earth’s crust. Therefore, whenever an eruption or an earthquake did occur, the Romans said Vulcan must have been at work in his shop. When later generations sought a word to designate the area from which molten rock, hot steam, and ash spewed forth, they appropriately chose the name Vulcanus (Vulcan’s name in Latin) and converted it to “volcano.”