turkey and Turkey

The etymology of the country Turkey derives from the Medieval Latin term Turchia, which in turn comes from the Greek word Τουρκία (Tourkia), meaning "land of the Turks." The term "Turkey" was first recorded in Middle English as Turkye and later evolved into Turkey. In 2022, Turkey officially adopted the name Türkiye to distinguish itself from the bird.

The etymology of Turks, meaning the people, is not definitively known, but it is believed to have originated from the name of a nomadic people known as the Tujue, as given by the Chinese.

But the quintessential American bird, famously sought after for the November Thanksgiving, is actually a misnomer.

Spanish explorers arrived in Mexico in the 1500s, and they encountered a plump, impressively feathered bird that the Aztecs had long domesticated and called huexolotl. The Spaniards brought these birds back to Europe, where they quickly became a hit on farms and dinner tables.

It is believed that because Europeans had already encountered a somewhat similar bird, the African guinea fowl, which was known as “Turkey cocks” or “Turkey hens,” it was assumed this new bird came from the same place. The African guinea fowl reached Europe earlier via trade routes controlled by the Ottoman Empire of the Turks. 

Another source says the bird’s name arose simply because, at the time, the Ottoman Empire was at its peak, and Europeans were apt to designate all new imports as “Turkish.” 

The misnomer stuck, and English speakers call the bird a “turkey.” But move into other languages and the name changes. The French used coq d’Inde (“rooster of India”) thinking it came from the Indies. In Portuguese it became a peru, in Malay, a “Dutch chicken.” In Turkish, it became a hindi, meaning “from India.” 

Much confusion about the literal origin place of the bird,