Skip to content

ornithonymy

noun

The naming of birds; the creation of common names for birds; the use of bird names.

Scrabble 22

Ask AI about this wordChatGPT Claude Perplexity Google AI Grok

Meanings

nounornithonymy (uncountable)

uncountableThe naming of birds; the creation of common names for birds; the use of bird names.
Mermnad king of Lydia in whose family ornithonymy may have been rife .
1984, Jaan Puhvel, Hittite Etymological Dictionary, page 176
1 more example
The complexity of ornithonymy increases the further back in time one looks.
2016, James Lambert, “Ornithonymy and Lexicographical Selection Criteria”, in International Journal of Lexicography, volume 30, number 1, pages 39–62

Origin

From ornithonym + -y.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with ornithonymy

synonymy allonymy anonymy anthroponymy antonymy autonymy cryptonymy demonymy endonymy eponymy ethnonymy euonymy geonymy glottonymy heteronymy hodonymy holonymy homonymy hydronymy hyponymy isonymy meronymy mononymy neonymy

Cite this entry

APA

ornithonymy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ornithonymy

MLA

“ornithonymy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ornithonymy. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ornithonymy,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ornithonymy.

Source: ornithonymy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.