Struthio
STROO-thee-oh
Genus
The Ostrich — the genus name is simply the Latin (ultimately Greek) word for ostrich, applied unchanged as a genus name.
Literally: An ostrich
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Struthio | An ostrich | Latin (=struthio, -n) | Standalone Latin noun (from Greek στρουθίων, strouthíōn, 'sparrow' or 'ostrich'); used as-is for the genus. The -n variant gives the stem struthion- used in compounds such as Struthioniformes. |
Struthio is a single-word genus name. It is a Latin noun of the third declension (stem struthion-), nominative singular struthio, meaning 'ostrich.' It stands alone without a species epithet in this query. When a specific epithet is added (e.g. Struthio camelus), the epithet must agree with the grammatical gender of the genus (masculine in Latin) or stand as a noun in apposition.
Pronunciation
- STROO-thee-oh Three syllables: Stru-thi-o. The penult vowel 'i' is short and is followed by no consonant before the final vowel 'o' (so the 'two-consonant' rule does not apply and the penult is not long). Default stress therefore falls on the ANTEPENULT (Stru-). The antepenult vowel 'u' is followed by the single digraph-consonant 'th', making it long → 'oo'. Final -o is long → 'oh'. Penult 'i' = 'ee'.
Other readings
One could theoretically parse 'thio' as the Greek root for sulphur (θεῖον), but the dictionary confirms the entire word is a single, unambiguous dictionary entry meaning 'ostrich.' No alternative segmentation is linguistically warranted.
The word is confirmed in the dictionary as a complete standalone entry: Latin =struthio, -n, 'an ostrich,' ultimately from Greek στρουθίων (strouthíōn). The stem form struthion- is the basis of the order name Struthioniformes ('ostrich-shaped' birds) and the adjective struthionine. No OCR issues or missing roots; single-root analysis is unambiguous.