Jackdaw
/ˈdʒæk.dɔː/noun
A small black-and-gray crow with pale eyes, native to Europe and western Asia.
Did you know?The first element, Jack, began as a medieval pet form of John, so this bird’s name is a strange little collision of human nickname and bird lore rather than a true dark spell-word.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*yeh₃-
“to speak, call by name”
Old French
OF
Jacques
“James; later a common male name”
Middle English
ME
Jacke
“a familiar male name; also a generic term for an ordinary man”
Middle English
ME
dawe
“jackdaw; a crow-like bird”
Modern English
EN
jackdaw
“a small crow of the genus Corvus”