bird

bird · noun, verb, adjective¹

1. Old Englishbridd
2. Middle Englishbrid
3. English todaybird

From Middle English bird, brid, from Old English bridd (“chick, fledgling, chicken”), of uncertain origin (see Old English bridd for more). Originally from a term used of birds that could not fly (chicks, fledglings, chickens) as opposed to the general Old English term for flying birds, fugol (modern fowl). Gradually replaced fowl as the most common term starting in the 14th century. The "booing/jeering" and "vulgar hand gesture" senses derived from the expression “to give the big bird”, as in “to hiss someone like a goose”, dated in the mid‐18th century.

bird · noun, verb²

Originally Cockney rhyming slang, shortened from bird-lime for "time".

Bird · proper noun³

* As an English and Scottish surname, from the noun bird. * As an Irish surname, Anglicized/translated from several names erroneously thought to contain the element éan (“bird”) such as Ó hÉinigh (see Heagney), Ó hÉanna (see Heaney), Ó hÉanacháin (see Heneghan) and Mac an Déaghanaigh (see McEneaney). * Similarly translated from several other languages containing the word bird, such as German Vogel, French Loiseau, Czech Ptáček see Ptacek), Pták, Polish Ptak. * This also extends to Native American names, such as Lakota ziŋtkala (“bird”). Compare Eagle, Hawk; Blackbird, Kingbird, Redbird, etc.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from mid-19th c. A man, fellow.
• from early 20th c. A girlfriend.