ortolan

See also: Ortolan

English

WOTD – 22 June 2010

A female ortolan.

Etymology

From Middle French hortolan (“gardener”), from Latin hortulānus (“gardener”). Doublet of hortulan.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɔː.təl.ən/, /ˈɔː.təl.æn/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɔɹ.tə.læn/, /ˈɔɹ.tə.lən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

ortolan (plural ortolans)

1. A small European migratory bunting (Emberiza hortulana), once eaten whole as a delicacy.
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, chapter VI, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book VII:

     […] this taught him to consider Sophia as a most delicious morsel, indeed to regard her with the same desires which an ortolan inspires into the soul of an epicure.

   • 2003, Stewart Lee Allen, In the Devil's Garden: A Sinful History of Forbidden Food, page 73:

     […] the last flavor Mitterrand wished to savor belonged to the flesh of the endangered ortolan, a songbird the size of a human toe that is a crime to buy or hunt, and is certainly illegal to eat. Mitterrand devoured it in the traditional manner, first covering his head with an embroidered cloth, then inserting the entire bird into his mouth. […] Only its head should dangle out from between your lips. Bite off the head and discard.

2. (US) Any of various similar birds, especially the bobolink, sora, or snow bunting.
3. The greater short-toed lark (Calandrella brachydactyla).

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:ortolan.

Derived terms

• ortolan bunting

Translations

a small bird eaten as a delicacy

• Bulgarian: градинска овесарка f (gradinska ovesarka)
• Catalan: hortolà m, piula hortolana f
• Esperanto: hortulano
• Finnish: peltosirkku (fi)
• French: ortolan (fr) m, becfigue (fr)
• German: Ortolan (de) m
• Italian: beccafico (it)
• Ottoman Turkish: یلو (yelva)
• Polish: ortolan (pl) m
• Romanian: ortolan (ro) m
• Russian: садовая овся́нка (sadovaja ovsjánka), рисовый трупиал (risovyj trupial), боболинк (bobolink)
• Spanish: hortelano (es), papafigo (es)
• Turkish: kiraz kuşu, çinte (tr)

French

un ortolan

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian ortolano, from Latin hortulānus (“gardener”). Doublet of hortelain, found in regional usage.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔʁ.tɔ.lɑ̃/
• Homophone: Ortholan

Noun

ortolan m (plural ortolans)

1. ortolan (small bird)

   Synonym: bruant ortolan

   Hypernym: bruant

Related terms

• horticulture

Further reading

• “ortolan” in Dictionnaire français en ligne Larousse.
• “ortolan” in Émile Littré, Dictionnaire de la langue française, 1872–1877.
• “ortolan”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from French ortolan, from Middle French hortolan, from Latin hortulānus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔrˈtɔ.lan/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔlan
• Syllabification: or‧to‧lan

Noun

ortolan m animal

1. ortolan (small bird eaten as a delicacy)

Declension

Declension of ortolan

	singular	plural
nominative	ortolan	ortolany
genitive	ortolana	ortolanów
dative	ortolanowi	ortolanom
accusative	ortolana	ortolany
instrumental	ortolanem	ortolanami
locative	ortolanie	ortolanach
vocative	ortolanie	ortolany

Further reading

• ortolan in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French ortolan.

Noun

ortolan m (plural ortolani)

1. ortolan

Declension

Declension of ortolan

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) ortolan	ortolanul	(niște) ortolani	ortolanii
genitive/dative	(unui) ortolan	ortolanului	(unor) ortolani	ortolanilor
vocative	ortolanule		ortolanilor