Pitta
PIT-uh
Genus
The pittas — a genus of brightly coloured ground-dwelling birds; the name derives from Greek pitta, meaning pitch or tar, but was adopted into New Latin nomenclature simply as a vernacular name for this kind of bird.
Literally: pitch (tar); or simply 'a kind of bird' (New Latin)
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pitta | pitch (tar); adopted in New Latin as the name for a kind of bird | Greek (pitt, =a) | The form pitta is the Greek noun for pitch/tar; its adoption as a bird genus name (by Vieillot, 1816) follows the New Latin practice of borrowing local or vernacular names. The connection to 'pitch' may allude to dark coloration, but the New Latin usage is essentially a proper ornithological name. |
A single-word genus name. Pitta is treated as a feminine noun in Latin (first-declension -a ending), as is conventional for genus names ending in -a under the ICZN. No specific epithet is present; the user has supplied the genus name alone.
Pronunciation
- PIT-uh Two-syllable word: stress falls on the penult (rule 1). Final -a is pronounced 'uh'.
Other readings
Some sources derive the name from a Telugu/Dravidian word pitta meaning 'small bird'; the Greek pitch-tar meaning may be incidental or a later folk-etymological association.
The dictionary records both the Greek literal meaning ('pitch') and a New Latin meaning ('a kind of bird'), reflecting the word's journey from classical Greek into ornithological nomenclature. An alternative etymology from a South Asian (Telugu) vernacular word for 'small bird' is widely cited in ornithological literature but is not in the dictionary; confidence for that reading is medium. No specific epithet was supplied; this analysis covers the genus name only.