tertial
English edit
Etymology edit
From Latin tertius (“third”); the tertial feathers are the third row of feathers.
Pronunciation edit
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈtɝʃl̩/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈtɜːʃl̩/
- Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)ʃəl
Noun edit
tertial (plural tertials)
- (ornithology) Any flight feather attached to the humerus (upper arm) of a bird.
- 1923, Arthur Cleveland Bent, Life Histories of North American Birds: Wild Fowl, page 76:
- He continues — "There was the same rear up, with the head bent down, followed by an upjerk of the hind parts; the long sickle-shaped tertials, so noticeable in this species, seemed little if at all expanded, […]