ibis

Where does the word "ibis" come from? It comes from Egyptian hib, passing through Ancient Greek and Latin before entering English (late 1300s).

Ibis’s story begins in Egyptian: hib meant “the sacred ibis bird.” Named the sacred wading bird associated with the god Thoth. By ancient, the word had taken hold in Ancient Greek as ibis. The ibis was sacred to Thoth, the Egyptian god of writing; millions of ibises were mummified. From there it passed into Latin as ibis by ancient. Carried into Latin natural histories such as Pliny's. It reached English by late 1300s as ibis. Entered English through Latin natural-history texts. Today, ibis means a long-legged wading bird with a curved bill; several species are found worldwide, and it was sacred in ancient Egypt.

1. Stage 1 · Egyptian · ancient hib "the sacred ibis bird", named the sacred wading bird associated with the god Thoth.
2. Stage 2 · Ancient Greek · ancient ibis "the Egyptian sacred bird", the ibis was sacred to Thoth, the Egyptian god of writing; millions of ibises were mummified.
3. Stage 3 · Latin · ancient ibis "a long-legged wading bird", carried into Latin natural histories such as Pliny's.
4. Stage 4 · English · late 1300s ibis "a long-legged wading bird related to herons and storks", entered English through Latin natural-history texts.