flamingo

Pronunciation

• IPA: /fləˈmɪŋɡoʊ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Portuguese flamengo,^[2][3][4] or borrowed from Spanish flamengo, now flamenco,^[5][3][4] and its further origin is disputed.^[2][3][4] One explanation is Provençal flamenc “flame-coloured”, from flama “flame”, Latin flamma;^[2][4] the other is Spanish flamenco “Fleming”, from Dutch Vlaming, because Flemings were conventionally pictured as ruddy-faced.^[3][5][6] Etymonline suggests that the word was at least accommodated to the word for Fleming.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A bird with bright scarlet or pink plumage, very long legs and neck and a bent bill (1565).^[7][5][3] Etymonline dates it to the 1560s.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Compare Greek phoinikópteros “flamingo”, literally “red-feathered”.^[4] The name has stayed attached to the bird,^[7][2] and was extended to its deep pink colour by 1897.^[7][1]

Timeline

• 1565 – the bird.^[7][5][3]
• 1862 – flamingo flower.^[7]
• 1897 – the deep pink colour of the flamingo.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Any of several large wading birds of the family Phoenicopteridae, with pinkish or reddish plumage, long legs and neck, and a bill bent downward.
2. A deep pink or reddish orange colour.

Word family

• flamingo flower

Related words

• flame
• flamenco
• Fleming

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press