ornithonymy

English

Etymology

ornithonym +‎ -y

Noun

ornithonymy (uncountable)

1. The naming of birds; the creation of common names for birds; the use of bird names.
   • 1984, Jaan Puhvel, Hittite Etymological Dictionary, page 176:

     Mermnad king of Lydia in whose family ornithonymy may have been rife .

   • 2016, James Lambert, “Ornithonymy and Lexicographical Selection Criteria”, in International Journal of Lexicography, volume 30, number 1, pages 39–62:

     The complexity of ornithonymy increases the further back in time one looks.