Stork

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /stɔɹk/

Definitions

1. A sizable aquatic bird distinguished by its long legs, neck, and beak, commonly believed in folklore to bring newborns
2. A large wading bird recognized for its long legs, neck, and bill, often associated with myths of delivering babies to families
3. An impressive bird known for its elongated features and migratory behavior, frequently linked to stories about childbirth

Etymology: The bird's name has an unusual trait: it is one of the few English animal words that has been inherited unbroken from the earliest Germanic speech. Old English "storc" passed into Middle English as "stork," and its relatives are still found across the Germanic languages today, with Dutch "stork," German "Storch," Swedish "stork," and Icelandic "storkur" all preserving the same shape. Each of these descends from a Proto-Germanic form, "sturkaz," which in turn goes back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning simply "stork." The word's sound has been stable for well over a thousand years, while the bird it names has done plenty of moving. The Germanic word spread outside its own family too: Latvian "stārķis" was borrowed from Germanic, so the bird's name travelled east along with the people and trade that carried the word into the Baltic lands.

Synonyms: wading bird