Why is the country Turkey named turkey?

Question

in english it means a yummy chicken type bird. what does it mean in turkish?

Answer 1

Turkey the country -in turkish> Türkiye

Turkey the bird-in turkish- Hind (or Hindiler)

When Europeans first encountered turkeys in the Americas they incorrectly identified the birds as a type of guineafowl (Numida meleagris), also known as a turkey-**** from its importation to Central Europe through Turkey, and the name of that country stuck as the name of the bird. The confusion is also reflected in the scientific name: meleagris is Greek for guinea-fowl.

The name of Turkey, Türkiye in the Turkish language, can be divided into two words: Türk, which means "Strong" in Old Turkic and usually signifying the inhabitants of Turkey or a member of the Turkish or Turkic peoples,a later form of "Tu–kin", a name given by the Chinese to the people living south of the Altay Mountains of Central Asia as early as 177 BCE; and the abstract suffix –iye (derived from the Arabic suffix –iyya, but is also associated with the Medieval Latin suffix –ia in Turchia, and the Medieval Greek suffix –ία in Τουρκία), which means "owner" or "related to". The first recorded use of the term "Türk" or "Türük" as an autonym is contained in the Orkhon inscriptions of the Göktürks (Sky Turks) of Central Asia (c. 8th century CE). The English word "Turkey" is derived from the Medieval Latin "Turchia" (c. 1369).

Answer 2

Funnily enough,  in Turkish it means "mayonnaise."

(Hahaha. Just joking. ;) I have no idea, but I'm sure in Turkish it doesn't mean the bird. It's just coincidence, is my guess.)

Answer 3

Turkey was named for the Turks, believe it or not. Turk can mean either "a citizen of the modern state of Turkey" or more broadly, "an individual of the Turkic-speaking people." The many Turkic languages are spoken not only in Turkey but also in a large area of central Asia and in northern Siberia. The real question is the origin of the name Turk. The word is essentially the same in many languages, including English, Turkish, Arabic, and Persian (Farsi). It probably comes from some Turkish root, but there's no consensus on which one. It may be one root meaning "strong" or "vigorous" (according to the  American Heritage Dictionary) or it may be another meaning "the people" (according to the  Encyclopedia Americana).