Bird Once Meant a Young Bird Only
A bird is a feathered flying animal. The Old English word meant a nestling, and fowl was the general term.
A bird is a warm-blooded egg-laying animal with feathers and wings. The general word used to be *fowl*, from Old English *fugol*, while *brid* meant specifically a young bird still in the nest. The two swapped roles: bird broadened to cover all of them and fowl narrowed to poultry and game. German *Vogel* and Dutch *vogel* still carry the older general sense, which is what English lost.
- A feathered animal. *A garden bird.*
- Fowl — the older general word. *Wildfowl.*
- A nestling (archaic). *A brid.*
- Birdsong. *Birdsong at dawn.*
- Old English — *brid*, a young bird. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | bird | A bird. |
| Plural | birds | Birds. |
| Related | fowl | Fowl. |
| German | Vogel | A bird. |
| Old English | brid | A nestling. |
- A bird landed on the fence.Animal.
- Fowl was once the general word.History.
- German Vogel keeps the old sense.Comparison.
Bird idioms
- A bird in the hand — from a proverb about certainty
- Birds of a feather — people of similar character
- Kill two birds with one stone — solve two problems at once
- The early bird — from a seventeenth-century proverb
- A little bird told me — an anonymous source
Old English *brid*, a young bird or nestling, of unknown further origin. The R and I swapped places over time.
Did bird always mean any bird?
No. It meant a nestling, while fowl was the general word. The two exchanged roles, and fowl narrowed to poultry and game.
Why does bird look different from brid?
The R and the vowel swapped places, a change called metathesis, which also affected words like third and horse.