Blackbird
/ˈblæk.bɜːrd/noun
A bird with predominantly black plumage, especially a common songbird of the thrush family.
Did you know?Unlike eerie words such as “nightmare” or “disaster,” blackbird has no hidden occult origin: it is a plain Old English compound, but its survival shows how color-names became one of the oldest ways humans classified the living world.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*bhel-
“To shine, gleam, or flash with color”
Old English
OE
blæc
“Black, dark”
Old English
OE
brid
“Young bird; fledgling”
Old English
OE
blæc brid
“A black bird; later a specific bird name”
Middle English
ME
blackbird
“A black bird, especially the common thrush-like bird”
Modern English
English
blackbird
“A bird with black plumage, especially a thrush of the genus Turdus”