oisel

Old French

Alternative forms

• hoysel, oesel, oicel, oisal, oiseal, oiseaul, oiseel, oiseil, oisell, oiseul, oisil, oisseil, oissel, osel, ossel, oyseal, oysel, oysele, yseal

Etymology

Inherited from Late Latin aucellus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ojˈzɛl/

Noun

oisel oblique singular, m (oblique plural oiseaus or oiseax or oisiaus or oisiax or oisels, nominative singular oiseaus or oiseax or oisiaus or oisiax or oisels, nominative plural oisel) (ornithology)

1. bird
   • 1260–1267, Brunetto Latini, “Dou Fenix [On the phoenix]” (chapter 164), Book 5, in Livres dou Tresor [Book of Treasures]; republished as Polycarpe Chabaille, compiler, Li livres dou tresor par Brunetto Latini‎^[1], Paris: Imprimerie impériale, 1863, page 214:

     Fenix est uns oisiaus en Arrabe dont il n’a plus que un sol en trestout le monde

     Phoenix is a bird in Arabia, of which there is no more than a single one in all the world

   1. (falconry) bird, falcon, hawk
      • 2009, Tony Hunt, Three Anglo-Norman Treatises on Falconry:

        Si voustre oysel est glettous [...].

        If your bird is voracious [...].

   2. chick

Descendants

• Bourguignon: ouseâ
• French: oiseau
• Gallo: ouézai
• Lorrain: ougeil, ougé (Barrois)
• Norman: ouaîsé, ouésé; ouaîthé; weze
• Picard: oisieu
• Walloon: oujhea

References

• oisel on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub