Well attestedNamed from the place
pheasant
noun · first attested Middle English
The bird is named for a river at the edge of the Black Sea.
A long-tailed game bird, originally of Asia.
Record
- Relationship
- Named from the place
- Confidence
- Well attestedThe place link is the standard scholarly account.
- Attested
- Middle English
- Part of speech
- noun
Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.
- Step 1
Rioni
- Step 2
Phasis
- Step 3
phasianos
- In English
pheasant
Greek phasianos means “of the Phasis,” the river now called the Rioni, which meets the sea at Poti in Georgia. Classical writers treated that river as the bird’s home, and English kept the name.
Georgia
All 2 entries