Vultur
VUL-ter
Genus
The Vulture — the classical Latin word for the bird, applied by Linnaeus (1758) to the Andean Condor
Literally: A vulture
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| vultur | a vulture | Latin | Masculine noun, nominative singular; used whole as the genus name |
Vultur is an undecomposed Latin noun used directly as the genus name. It stands alone with no connecting vowel or compounding. The full binomial is Vultur gryphus, where the genus name is a Latin masculine noun in the nominative singular.
Pronunciation
- VUL-ter Two-syllable word: always stress the penult
Other readings
The scanner also detected the Latin diminutive suffix -ul- (meaning 'little') within the letters, but this is coincidental overlap; vultur is a simple underived Latin noun, not a diminutive compound.
vultur is in the dictionary as a direct Latin word meaning 'a vulture', traditionally connected to vellere ('to tear, to pluck'), reflecting the bird's habit of tearing carrion — but that etymology is from general knowledge, not the dictionary entry itself. Linnaeus (1758) transferred this plain Latin common name unchanged into formal taxonomy.