The story
From zoo-; sem- (from Ancient Greek σῆμα "token, sign"); -y.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Today it means: The metaphorical use of animal names or animal-related terms to denote human qualities, e.g. chicken, sly fox, mother hen etc. as epithets for human individuals. Full definition →
From zoo-; sem- (from Ancient Greek σῆμα "token, sign"); -y.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.