ostrich (English)

Where does "ostrich" come from?

The word 'ostrich' traces back to the Ancient Greek 'strouthokamēlos,' a descriptive term meaning 'sparrow camel' because of the bird's long neck. This Greek term traveled through Latin as 'struthio' and evolved into the Old French 'ostruce,' eventually being borrowed into Middle English as 'ostrich.' It serves as a fascinating example of how ancient descriptive language persists in modern, familiar names.

Full etymology tree

• ostrich (English), 'A large flightless bird of the order Struthioniformes.'
  • inherited ostrich (Middle English), 'ostrich (Struthio camelus)'
    • learned borrowing ostrige (Anglo-Norman)
      • inherited ostruce (Old French), 'ostrich'
        • inherited *austrūthiō (Vulgar Latin)
          • compound avis (Latin), 'a bird'
            • inherited *awis (Proto-Italic), 'bird'
          • compound strūthiō (Latin), 'ostrich'
            • inherited στρουθίων (strouthíōn) (Ancient Greek), 'synonym of στρουθοκάμηλος (strouthokámēlos, “ostrich”)'
              • derived στρουθός (strouthós) (Ancient Greek), 'house sparrow (Passer domesticus)'
              • affix -ίων (-íōn) (Ancient Greek), 'Suffix added to father's name that forms masculine patronymic, meaning "son of"'
          • clipping strūthiocamēlus (Latin), 'ostrich'
            • inherited στρουθοκᾰ́μηλος (strouthokámēlos) (Ancient Greek)
              • compound στρουθός (strouthós) (Ancient Greek), 'house sparrow (Passer domesticus)'
              • compound κάμηλος (kámēlos) (Ancient Greek), 'camel'
                • inherited *gamal- (Proto-West Semitic), 'camel'

Direct ancestors

• ostrich (Middle English)
• ostruce (Old French)
• στρουθίων (Ancient Greek)
• στρουθοκάμηλος (Ancient Greek)
• avestruz (Spanish)
• avestruz (Portuguese)

Updated July 2026

Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris