[Ads-l] Bald eagle etymology

Tue Feb 20 20:17:52 UTC 2018

A Latin-English dictionary published in 1679 confirms that "bald" could mean hairless before "bald eagles" were described in 1693.  "A Bald man . . . alopecus."  "To make bald, depilo . . . ."

Elisha Coles, A Dictionary Latin-English and English-Latin, 2d edition, London, 1679 [(a comment in a preface suggests the first edition was in 1677)], on HathiTrust.

Interestingly, however, the same dictionary has an entry that hints at a possible different origin for, or at least additional influence on, the name "bald eagle."

The Latin-English dictionary lists a bird called a "bald buzzard."

I first assumed that it referred to a turkey vulture, which actually has a hairless head, and which I grew up calling "buzzards".  But turkey vultures are native to North America, so it seemed odd that there would have been a Latin word for it.

But "buzzard", it turns out, more commonly refers to any number of  hawk-like birds.

With a little digging, I was able to figure out that "bald buzzard" was an old term for an "osprey" or "sea eagle."

There is some controvery over the origin of "bald buzzard" as it applies to ospreys.  Ospreys do, in fact, have a nearly white head and can be confused for bald eagles from a distance, so it might also have been called bald for the same reason it has long been assumed that bald eagles were called bald.

However, the French word for osprey is "balbuzard" and I have seen the spelling "balbusard".  Writing in the ornithology magazine, Osprey, Theodore Gill acknowledges that the name is suggestive, like "bald eagle," of baldness or seeming baldness, but speculates that it could have been a corruption of the French word.

Osprey, Volume 5, Number 2, November-December 1900, page 26:

"Bald Buzzard is not recognized in any of the standard ornithologies of the British isles as an existent vernacular name.  On the other hand, Balbuzard is the common French name of the Osprey.  Littre, indeed, derives the name from the English "bald-buzzard"; he adds, however, that there is also in low (late) Latin the word "balbuzare, balbutier" (that is, to utter words in a hesitating or imperfect manner); that the Balbuzard may have been named ""balbutieur") on account of its cry, and that the English word may have been derived from the French and assimilated to English words.  Whatever may be the status of this explanation, we may be permitted to doubt whether the French would have awaited the development of the English language till the words Bald and Buzzard had assumed their present form before giving the name in question to a bird more common in their own country than in England.  We should remember, too, that the Norman French introduced many names into England and Bald Buzzard may have been a fading reminiscence of their invation - so faded, indeed, that the scientific records of the present day show no survival in the vernacular speech.  Doubtless, investigation among old documents might settle the question.  At any rate, for the present scepticism as to the aboriginality of Bald Buzzard as an English name and, still more, the derivation of the French name from the English may be entertained, even in the face of Littre."

[END]

In any case, if "Bald Buzzard" was known before the first bald eagle was seen by English speakers, then the "bald eagle" may have been named primarily for its similarity to the "bald buzzard" (or osprey).

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From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Ken Hirsch <kenhirsch at FTML.NET>
Sent: Friday, February 16, 2018 7:57 AM
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Subject: Bald eagle etymology

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Subject:      Bald eagle etymology
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I noticed on Wikipedia that the entry for the bald eagle (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald_eagle) has these sentences:

> Bald eagles are not actually bald; the name derives from an older meaning
of the word, "white headed".

and later

> The bald eagle placed in the genus Haliaeetus (sea eagles) which gets
both its common and specific scientific names from the distinctive
appearance of the adult's head. Bald in the English name is derived from
the word piebald, and refers to the white head and tail feathers and their
contrast with the darker body.[18]

Reference 18 is "Dudley, Karen (1998). Bald Eagles. Raintree Steck-Vaughn
Publishers. p. 7. ISBN 0-8172-4571-5."

Searching on Google books, this idea goes back to at least the 1930s:
https://books.google.com/books?id=WbErAQAAMAAJ&dq=piebald

But this seems questionable to me. One of the first references to the bald
eagle is: "The Second is the Bald Eagle, for the Body and part of the Neck
being of a dark brown, the upper part of the Neck and Head is covered with
a white sort of Down, whereby it looks very bald, whence it is so named."

Published 1693
http://rstl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/17/206/978.extract

Apparently written 1688 https://www.loc.gov/resource/lhbcb.27239/?sp=1
[http://cdn.loc.gov/service/gdc/lhbcb/27239/0001.jpg]<https://www.loc.gov/resource/lhbcb.27239/?sp=1>

Image 1 of A letter from Mr. John Clayton rector of Crofton at Wakefield in Yorkshire, to the Royal Society, May 12, 1688. Giving an account of several observables in Virginia, and in his voyage thither, more particularly concerning the air.<https://www.loc.gov/resource/lhbcb.27239/?sp=1>
www.loc.gov
On verso of t.p.: Forces Collection of historical papers. Reprinted from the "Miscellanea curiosa" edited by Edmund Halley, 1705-07, v.3. Originally published in the Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London, 1694-5, v. 17, p. 781-795; 941-948; v. 18, p. 121-135. Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress Web site.

Any thoughts on this?

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