Eyas

EYAS

Today, the word on the street is “eyas.”

If you have never heard the word “eyas” before, don’t worry.  Not many people have.  So just to enlighten you, we will provide the definition. “Eyas” means “an unfledged bird; specifically: a nestling hawk.”

Now the story as to how “eyas” came about is actually a humorous one.  It exists because Middle English speakers in the 15^th century made an inaccurate assumption about the word “neias,” which was derived from the Anglo French word “niais” meaning “fresh from the nest.” When saying “a neias,” Middle English speakers eventually changed it to be “an eias” for fluidity. (Merriam Webster’s Dictionary).

Over time, the word lost the “n” in the front and changed from “an eias” to simply “eyas.” This change was accidental, however, as the “an” was taken off in an episode of aphaeresis, which simplified the word and made it “eyas”. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the change in spelling, from “eias” to “eyas” was caused by other Middle English words like “ey,” meaning egg, and “eyry” meaning “aerie” or the nest where eyas would live.

So because of a simple misassumption, a word was born.  Who knows, maybe somewhere down the line you might create your own word.