Etymograph

English

quelea

Quelea comes from Latin quelea.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquelea1
  2. Englishearliest quotation 2014quelea1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English quelea
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2014, Pusher: “A canopy of red-billed quelea / Passed over the…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEqueleaWiktionary, English quelea
  2. Englishearliest quotation 2014queleaWiktionary, English quelea. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2014, Pusher: “A canopy of red-billed quelea / Passed over the…”

The story

From Latin quelea, coined as a specific name by Linnaeus; of uncertain etymology but possibly related to Late Latin qualea (‘quail’).uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Every English word from Latin quelea

Today it means

noun The African weaverbird (genus Quelea).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “quelea”. 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 / Latin quelea / quelea

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