Etymology

waterfowl

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Today it means: Any of the birds, such as ducks, geese and swans, that spend most of their non-flying time on water; especially those of the family Anatidae. Full definition →

Middle English waterfoul
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The story

  1. Middle English · inherited fromwaterfoul
  2. English todaywaterfowl

From Middle English waterfoul, water-foul, equivalent to water + fowl. Compare Old English dopfugel (“waterfowl, moorhen”, literally “dipping-fowl”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.