Pretty much what it says on the tin— usually if something is "X of Y", it is, usually because "X" is related to, or is of "Y" (e.g. "people of faith" means people who have faith) In this case however, "bird of prey" doesn't mean that the bird is prey, but rather, that it eats prey, which is the opposite (it's the equivalent of construing "people of faith" to mean "atheist"). What is the reason we call birds that eat prey "of prey", instead of "predator birds"?
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2By the example you give, wouldn't "birds of prey" actually mean "birds who have prey"? That seems pretty self-explanatory.– Doug WarrenCommented Sep 22, 2015 at 18:39
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1Sense 3.a of prey: “The act or practice of preying”. They are birds of preying.– Janus Bahs JacquetCommented Sep 22, 2015 at 19:43
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Because they prey on other birds or animals.– rogermueCommented Sep 22, 2015 at 20:06
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2'of', like other prepositions, has many meanings. The bird of mine is a bird that I own. The bird of clay is a bird that is constructed from clay. The bird of Alcatraz comes from Alcatraz...etc. It just means a bird that has something to do with prey, and, in this case, kills it.– MitchCommented Sep 22, 2015 at 22:24
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1Note that English also has the expression "beasts of prey"—and that, as this Ngram chart indicates, for most of the past 300 years—until about 1950—the two expressions were approximately equally frequent in written English (as represented by the Google Books database).– Sven YargsCommented Sep 22, 2015 at 23:28
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4 Answers
From a grammatical point of view, "prey" preceeded by "of" is a genitive.
In many languages such as Latin, English or French, the genitive generally indicates the possession. But in this case, the genitive denotes a description, as for "a man of honour" or "the day of reckoning".
Bird of prey is a translation of the medieval latin "avis praedae". It may be a direct translation from latin or derived from its french equivalent "oiseau de proie".
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In this case, the genitive denotes a description– Isn't "man of honour" possessive (i.e. the man has honour)? Also, wouldn'tdenotes a descriptionseem to suggest that a bird of prey can be described as prey (and by implication, that an eagle is, among other things, a prey)? That seems to contradict the intent of the term "bird of prey". Commented Feb 10, 2018 at 15:24 -
@GhotiandChips Following that train of thought produces “birds that have prey”, which kind of fits.– LawrenceCommented Apr 18, 2020 at 15:56
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1Constructions using "... de ..." (where de=of) are even more common in French than in English, as French tends not to use attributive nouns in the way English does, but uses a preposition instead. I wouldn't be surprised if there are several "... of ..." phrases that are direct translations of the French.– Stuart FCommented Jan 3, 2023 at 17:24
Birds of prey simply refers to predatory birds. It's a confusing phrase that doesn't seem right when compared to other similar phrases but prey is related to the bird in the sense of what is hunts. It does not mean the bird is preying, it means a predator bird. It's not an action but a descriptor.
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of = contextually associated with
An eagle is a bird that is contextually associated with prey.
The phrases fowl of prey, bird of prey, beast of prey date from the 14th c. The word prey is from the Old French proie, preie, praie.. The preposition of in the phrase "of prey", means "having a relationship with". So, a bird having-a-relationship-with prey, i.e. a predatory bird.
See prei(e n. and of prep., at the Middle English Dictionary at the University of Michigan.
