[Ads-l] Bald eagle etymology

[Peter Reitan]

It seems plausible to me that the French/Latin term, "balbusard" came first.


The English easily heard as "bald buzzard," particularly in light of the fact that looked bald.

The people who first saw a bald eagle saw the similarity, and recognized that it was an eagle, and named it "bald eagle," which seemed appropriate because they also looked bald.  So although the early naming of the osprey may have been based on the Latin word for stuttering, the word was later understood to refer to apparent baldness, without a conscious memory or understanding of the earlier term.

Also, the call of an osprey, the so-called "bald buzzard," does sound like it is stuttering, so the "balbusard" origin seems believable.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/OSPREY/sounds



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From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2018 2:01 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Bald eagle etymology

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Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
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Subject:      Re: Bald eagle etymology
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Fascinating investigation, Peter. What you have found certainly
provides an intriguing alternative explanation for "bald" in "bald
eagle".
Garson


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