If you ever find yourself curious about the origins of a lesser-known constellation, apus is a small constellation consisting of five stars that represents a bird-of-paradise visible in the southern hemisphere. Initially recorded as Paradysvogel Apis Indica (Dutch for “bird of paradise”), the name apis was actually a mistake for the Latin word for “bird”, avis. Over time, it was corrected to apus, as it meant “without feet” in Ancient Greek and the avians were mistakenly believed to be footless. It seems that Europeans had encountered the bird only a few times before, with the wings and feet often removed for decorative purposes, leading them to believe that the bird could fly due to its extraordinary feathers. Ultimately, avis traces back to the Proto-Indo-European root hewis, which also means “bird”.
