Uropsila
yoo-ROP-sih-luh
Genus
bare-tailed (one); the one with a naked tail
Literally: bare tail
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| uro- | the tail | Greek (ur, =a, -o) | combining form uro- |
| psil- | bare, naked | Greek (psil, -o) | combining form psilo-, vowel dropped before following -a |
| -a | feminine singular nominative ending | Latin / New Latin | standard New Latin genus termination, grammatically feminine |
A New Latin genus name formed from two Greek combining forms: uro- (tail) + psilo- (bare/naked), with the standard feminine nominative ending -a. The -o- of psilo- is dropped because the ending -a follows directly. The name refers to a distinctive bare or unfeathered tail. Uropsila is a genus of wrens (Troglodytidae).
Pronunciation
- yoo-ROP-sih-luh Antepenult stress: penult vowel (i) is short and followed by only one consonant (l), so stress falls on the antepenult syllable ROP.
Other readings
uro- + ops + -ila: 'tail-faced'; possible but ops would leave '-ila' unexplained and is far less likely than the clean uro- + psilo- split.
The segment -a is the standard New Latin feminine genus ending; it is not the Greek privative prefix a- (which would mean 'without'). Uropsila leucogastra (the white-bellied wren) is the only species in this genus. 'psilo-' dropping its final -o before the terminal -a is standard Greek compounding practice.