Mesembrinibis
mez-em-brin-EE-bis
Genus
the noon ibis
Literally: midday ibis
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| mesembrin- | midday; the south (lit. 'middle of the day') | Greek (mesembria) | from mesos (middle) + hēmera (day); the combining stem mesembrin- drops the final -a |
| ibis | the ibis (a wading bird) | Greek / Latin | taken directly as a noun in apposition; Latin feminine |
Mesembrinibis is a genus name formed by joining the Greek stem mesembrin- (from mesembria, 'midday / south') directly to ibis. The second element, ibis, is a noun in apposition rather than a suffix, so no connecting vowel is needed. The whole compound is treated as a Latin feminine noun (following ibis, which is feminine in Latin). The name alludes either to the bird's southerly (South American) range or to a midday behavioral trait.
Pronunciation
- mez-em-brin-EE-bis Penult rule 4: the penult vowel 'i' is long before a single consonant in the ending -ibis (two-syllable tail), making the penult long and therefore stressed.
Other readings
Some sources parse it as mesembri- + n- (the n belonging to the linking syllable) + ibis, but the stem mesembrin- is the standard combining form of mesembria, so a separate -n- connector is not needed.
The dictionary confirmed 'mesembria' (Greek, midday/south) and 'ibis' (Greek/Latin, the ibis bird) as dictionary entries. Mesembrinibis cayennensis (the Green Ibis) is the sole species in this genus; the name likely refers to its Neotropical (southerly) distribution, mesembria also carrying the sense of 'the south' in Greek geographical usage. The -n- before ibis is the final consonant of the stem mesembrin-, not a separate connecting vowel.