Poultry
/ˈpoʊl.tri/noun
Domestic birds kept for meat or eggs, especially chickens, ducks, and turkeys.
Did you know?In medieval English, *poultry* grew out of the same word-family as *pullet* and *poult*, showing how language once sorted birds by age and usefulness long before modern farming.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*peh₂-
“to feed, protect, or tend”
Latin
Latin
pullus
“young animal, chick, or offspring”
Old French
Old French
poulet
“young chicken”
Middle English
English
poultre / poultrye
“young fowls; chickens kept for food”
Modern English
English
poultry
“domestic birds raised for meat or eggs”