DictionaryRoot: cyning
Old English
cyning
king, ruler
1 / 1
noun
kingfisher
KING-fish-ur/ˈkɪŋfɪʃər/
A small, often brightly colored bird that catches fish.
Etymology
The name originally meant “king’s fisher”: the fisher element fits the bird’s fish-catching behavior and already named this bird in Old English. Why it was associated with a king is obscure.