curlew
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English curlew, from Old French courlieu (see French courlis), claimed to be imitative of the bird's cry but apparently assimilated with dialectal *corliu (“runner, messenger”), a variant of coureur (the bird is adept at running).
Pronunciation edit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈkɜːlju/, /ˈkɜːlu/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - (General American) IPA(key): /ˈkɝlu/
Noun edit
curlew (plural curlews)
- Any of several migratory wading birds in the genus Numenius of the family Scolopacidae, remarkable for their long, slender, downcurved bills.
- (Australia) A stone curlew.
- 1902, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Bush Studies (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 16:
- That quivering wail from the billabong lying murkily mystic towards the East was only the cry of the fearing curlew.
Derived terms edit
- beach stone-curlew
- bristle-thighed curlew, Numenius tahitiensis
- bush stone-curlew
- eastern curlew, Numenius madagascariensis
- Eskimo curlew, Numenius borealis
- Eurasian curlew, Numenius arquata
- Eurasian stone-curlew
- great stone-curlew
- Hudsonian curlew
- little curlew, Numenius minutus
- long-billed curlew, Numenius americanus
- slender-billed curlew, Numenius tenuirostris
- stone-curlew
Translations edit
migratory wading bird
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See also edit
Middle English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From Old French courlieu.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
curlew (plural curlewes)
Descendants edit
- English: curlew
References edit
- “curleu, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-03-09.