Etymograph

English

passerine

Passerine comes from New Latin Passer ‘bird genus’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- ‘to spread out’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peth₂-1‘to spread out’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
  2. New Latinc. 1500–1900Passer1‘bird genus’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1840passerine1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English passerine
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1840, William Whewell, Philological Analogies are to be Preserved if Possible: “If we examine the names of the Orders of…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peth₂-Wiktionary, English passerine‘to spread out’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
  2. New Latinc. 1500–1900PasserWiktionary, English passerine‘bird genus’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1840passerineWiktionary, English passerine. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1840, William Whewell, Philological Analogies are to be Preserved if Possible: “If we examine the names of the Orders of…”

The story

Adjective sense 1 is borrowed from New Latin Passer (‘bird genus’) (from Latin passer (‘sparrow’), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- (‘to spread out; to fly (in the sense of spreading out wings)’)) + English -ine (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’). Adjective sense 2 is borrowed from New Latin passerinus (‘bird species’) + English -ine. Passerinus is derived from Latin passerīnus (‘of or fit for sparrows’), from passer (‘sparrow’) (see above) + -īnus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- ‘to spread out’

mile, repeat, compete, expansion, pen, petition, expand, patent, helicopter, competitor, passage, symptom, feather, perpetual, impetus, compass, spawn, perpetuate, pennant, expanse, perpetuity, petulant, trespass, impetuous, pinion, passable, patina, patella, pata, penna, petulance, 79 more

Today it means

adj Of or relating to the Passeriformes order of perching birds, which are generally anisodactyl, having three toes pointing forward and one back, which facilitates perching.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “passerine”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- / passerine

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