2007-05-16 19:10:58 · 3 answers · asked by flingebunt 7 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Zoology
The word duck (from Anglo-Saxon dūce), meaning the bird, came from the verb "to duck" (from Anglo-Saxon supposed *dūcan) meaning "to bend down low as if to get under something" or "to dive", because of the way many species in the dabbling duck group feed by upending (compare the Dutch word duiken = "to dive").
This happened because the older Old English word for "duck" came to be pronounced the same as the word for "end": other Germanic languages still have similar words for "duck" and "end": for example, Dutch eend = "duck", eind = "end", German ente = "duck", ende = "end"; this similarity goes back to Indo-European: compare Latin anas (stem anat-) = "duck", Lithuanian antis = "duck", Ancient Greek νησσα, νηττα (nēssa, nētta) = "duck"; Sanskrit anta = "end".
2007-05-17 08:58:12 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Because its a duck !
What else ?
2007-05-17 02:18:57 · answer #2 · answered by Jacky.- the "INDIAN". 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why not a duck?
2007-05-17 02:18:45 · answer #3 · answered by macnietzsche18 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋