where do peacocks get there name from? (sensible answers only please)

[tweenyb]

where do peacocks get there name from? (sensible answers only please)


many thanks

t xx

[Eve]

Found this if you (or anyone else) can decipher it...

Origin: OE. Pecok. Pea- in this word is from AS. Pea, pawa, peacock, fr. L. Pavo, prob. Of Oriental origin; cf. Gr, Per. Taus, tawus, Ar. Tawus. See **** the bird.

http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Peaco ck

[Quizmonster]

The Latin name for this bird was pavo. This became pawa in Old English and just pe - pronounced pee - in Middle English, giving us the complete modern sound. The word for male bird was simply added to this, just as the equivalent, hen, was added for the female bird.

[wildwood]

The birds as a species are peafowls.

[figure]

The word peacock actually derives from Old English p�a �peacock�, and the �**** (or �hen) was added during the Middle English period in order to distinguish between males and females, as mentioned above. The Old English form comes from Latin pavo �peacock�. The peacock was a native of India, but it was domesticated and then taken to the West by traders. The Romans probably took it to Britain, where their name for the bird was adopted and changed by the Anglo-Saxons. The Latin word is thought to come from Greek taos �peacock�. http://tinyurl.com/57r28p

[tweenyb]

Thank you all :0) xx