English

softtail

From soft + tail.

A compound of soft + tail

Proto-West Germanic *samft(ī) ‘level’

Old English sōfte

Middle English softe ‘soft’

English soft

Proto-Indo-European *deḱ- ‘to tear, fray, shred’

…

Proto-Germanic *taglą ‘hair, fiber’

Proto-West Germanic *tagl

Old English tæġel

Middle English tail

English tail

Today it means

noun A bird of the Thripophaga genus

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

Etymograph / softtail