English

redstart

Redstart comes from Middle English *redstert.

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

A compound of red + start ‘tail’

Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ-

…

Proto-Germanic *raudaz

Proto-West Germanic *raud

Old English rēad

Middle English red ‘red’

English red

Proto-West Germanic *sturtijan ‘to fall down, tumble’

Old English styrtan ‘to leap up, start’

Middle English sterten ‘to leap up suddenly, rush out’

English start

Every English word from Middle English *redstert

noun Any of various insectivorous ground-feeding birds, mainly of the genus Phoenicurus. Many of the species have a red tail.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.