Microchera
my-kroh-KEER-uh
Genus
The small-handed one; referring to the notably short, small wings (the 'hands' of a bird) of this hummingbird
Literally: small hand
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| micro- | small | Greek (micr, -o) | combining form micr- + connecting vowel -o- |
| -cher- | a hand | Greek (=cheir, -o) | Greek cheir (χείρ); the diphthong ei is simplified to e in this latinized form; in ornithology the 'hand' is the distal wing skeleton bearing the flight feathers |
| -a | feminine nominative singular ending | standard Latin/New Latin genus-name ending; gives the word feminine gender |
A New Latin compound noun formed from two Greek roots: micro- (small) + cheir (hand) + Latin feminine ending -a. It stands alone as a genus name; there is no specific epithet here. The 'hand' metaphor for the wing-tip is standard in comparative anatomy (os carpi, manus).
Pronunciation
- my-kroh-KEER-uh Antepenult stress: penult vowel e in '-cher-' is short and followed by only one consonant before the final -a, so stress falls on the antepenult syllable '-kro-'. Wait — four syllables: my-kro-KEER-a; penult is 'keer' (diphthong ei = long e), so penult stress rule 2 applies: stress the penult.
Other readings
micro- + chers- (dry land) + -a is theoretically possible but makes no biological sense for a hummingbird; rejected.
The ocher root (pale colour) at position 4–9 is an artefact of the substring search; it does not reflect the intended segmentation.
Microchera is the genus of the Snowcap hummingbird (Microchera albocoronata). The name alludes to the tiny, abbreviated wings characteristic of hummingbirds, whose 'hand' bones (carpus + manus) form the stiff distal wing. The Greek diphthong ei in cheir is regularly simplified to e when forming latinized scientific names (cf. Dactylochera, Macrocheira). 'cheir' is confirmed in the dictionary (=cheir, -o, Greek, 'a hand'). The final -a is a New Latin feminine ending, not a separate root. The substring matches for ocher, croc, och, and ic are coincidental overlaps and play no part in the name's meaning.