Turdiform
/ˈtɜːrdɪfɔːrm/noun
Shaped like a thrush or resembling a member of the bird genus Turdus.
Did you know?The resemblance to the English word “turd” is accidental: Latin turdus meant “thrush,” while English turd comes through a separate Germanic history.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*trozdos
“A thrush or similar songbird; a reconstructed ancestral form connected with several European bird names.”
Classical Latin
Latin
turdus
“Thrush; a songbird.”
18th Century
Neo-Latin
Turdus
“Scientific genus name for the true thrushes.”
19th Century
Scientific English
turdiformis
“Thrush-shaped, formed from Turdus plus Latin -formis, “having the shape of.””
Modern English
English
turdiform
“Resembling or shaped like a thrush or a member of the genus Turdus.”