"Helicopter" and "pterodactyl" have the same Greek root word! Do you know which?
Police use helicopters, but the etymology of helicopter has nothing to do with cops, but rather with fliers of the Jurassic period. It’s helico – pter, from the Greek ἕλικος (elikos) ‘spiral’ + πτερόν (pteron) ‘wing.’
The -pter in helicopter is the same as the –pter in pterodactyl. The prehistoric flying reptile is “wing-fingered.” It gets it's name from πτερόν + dactyl, the combining form of δάκτυλος (dactylos) ‘finger.
