Etymology
Macronectes giganteus can be broken down as makros a Greek word meaning long or large and nēktēs meaning swimmer. Northern Giant Petrel starts with northern referring to their habitat being further north than their counterpart the Southern Giant Petrel, and Petrel refers to Saint Peter and from the story of him walking on water, which refers to how they run on top of the water as they are getting airborne.
Read more about this topic: Northern Giant Petrel
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“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)
“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)