"small freshwater duck," early 14c., of uncertain origin, probably from an unrecorded Old English word cognate with Middle Dutch teling "teal," Middle Low German telink, from West Germanic *taili. As the name of a shade of dark greenish-blue resembling the color patterns on the fowl's head and wings, it is attested from 1923 in clothing advertisements.[teal etymology, teal origin, 英语词源]