Etymology

quetzal

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Today it means: Any trogon of the genus Pharomacrus, especially a resplendent quetzal (Pharomacrus mocinno), which has very long tail feathers and is found in Guatemala and Costa Rica. Full definition →

Spanish quetzal ← Classical Nahuatl quetzalli
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The story

  1. Classical Nahuatl · derived fromquetzalli“brightly colored tail feather, quetzal feather”
  2. Spanish · borrowed fromquetzal
  3. English todayquetzal

Borrowed from Spanish quetzal, from Classical Nahuatl quetzalli (“brightly colored tail feather, quetzal feather”), from quetza (“to raise, lift”); see also Classical Nahuatl quetzaltōtōtl (“quetzal bird”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.