Etymology

widow bird

Today it means: Any of several species of birds in the family Viduidae, incorporating whydahs and widow finches. Full definition →

Latin vidua
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromvidua“widow”
  2. English todaywidow bird

Compound of widow + bird. The name for the family Viduidae derives from the genus name Vidua, from post-classical Latin vidua (“widow”) for males' black plumage, which resembles the mourning clothes of a widow. Compare whydah, from Whydah, a city in the Kingdom of Dahomey, now Ouidah, Benin. The terms widow-bird and whydah-bird influenced one another due to association of one species with the city.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.