Etymology
This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 as Vultur barbatus. The present scientific name means "Bearded Vulture-Eagle".
The name of the Lammergeier originates from German Lämmergeier, which means "lamb-vulture" or "lamb-hawk". The name stems from the belief that it attacked lambs.
Read more about this topic: Bearded Vulture
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)