- starling (n.)
- "Sturnus vulgaris," Old English stærlinc "starling," with diminutive suffix -linc + stær "starling," from Proto-Germanic *staraz (source also of Old English stearn, Old Norse stari, Norwegian stare, Old High German stara, German star "starling"), from PIE *storo- "starling" (source also of Latin sturnus "starling," Old Prussian starnite "gull").
- stare (n.2)
- "starling," from Old English (see starling).
- mina (n.)
- talking starling of India, see mynah.
- mynah (n.)
- type of passerine bird of India and the East, "talking starling," 1769, from Hindi maina "a starling," from Sanskrit madana- "delightful, joyful," related to madati "it gladdens," literally "it bubbles," from PIE root *mad- "moist, wet" (see mast (n.2).
- thrush (n.1)
- type of songbird, Old English þræsce, variant of þrysce, from Proto-Germanic *thruskjon (source also of Old Norse þröstr, Norwegian trost, Old High German drosca), from PIE *trozdo- (source also of Latin turdus, Lithuainian strazdas "thrush," Middle Irish truid, Welsh drudwy "starling," Old Church Slavonic drozgu, Russian drozdu).
- hormone (n.)
- "organic compound produced in animal bodies to regulate activity and behavior," 1905, from Greek hormon "that which sets in motion," present participle of horman "impel, urge on," from horme "onset, impulse," from PIE *or-sma-, from root *er- (1) "to move, set in motion." Used by Hippocrates to denote a vital principle; modern scientific meaning coined by English physiologist Ernest Henry Starling (1866-1927). Jung used horme (1915) in reference to hypothetical mental energy that drives unconscious activities and instincts. Related: Hormones.
- sparrow (n.)
- small brownish-gray bird (Passer domesticus), Old English spearwa, from Proto-Germanic *sparwan (source also of Old Norse spörr, Old High German sparo, German Sperling, Gothic sparwa), from PIE *spor-wo-, from root *sper- (3), forming names of small birds (source also of Cornish frau "crow;" Old Prussian spurglis "sparrow;" Greek spergoulos "small field bird," psar "starling"). In use, with qualifying words, of many small, sparrow-like birds. Sparrowfarts (1886) was Cheshire slang for "very early morning."
