A.W.A.D. - Words Derived From Birds

with Anu GargBirds don't get any respect. Beginning with "bird brain" that paints all birds with the same brush, the English language is littered with expressions that defame our feathered friends. Individual birds have their own problems in the language. If you call someone chicken, you imply he is cowardly; someone labeled a peacock is vain. Naming a person a magpie means she is talkative or a hoarder, and a jay is a gullible person. A rooster is the inspiration behind the word cocky, then there are sitting duck, dodo, dotterel... The list is endless.

Not so fast. Birds are smarter than you think. Take a look at these videos (1, 2), for example. This week we'll discuss five words derived from birds, though their avian connections are not always so obvious.
columbarium
PRONUNCIATION: (kol-uhm-BAR-ee-uhm)
MEANING: noun:
1. A vault with niches for storing urns
2. A dovecote or pigeon house

ETYMOLOGY:From Latin columbarium, from columba (pigeon, dove)

pied
PRONUNCIATION: (rhymes with pride)
MEANING: adjective: Having patches of two or more colors; multicolored

ETYMOLOGY:From pie (magpie), referring to a magpie's black and white plumage, from Latin pica (jay or magpie). The Pied Piper of legend owes his moniker to his multicolored attire.

roustabout
PRONUNCIATION: (ROUST-uh-bout)
MEANING: noun: A casual or unskilled laborer, especially on an oil rig

ETYMOLOGY: From roust, perhaps an alteration of rouse (to shake feathers, as of a hawk)

crestfallen
PRONUNCIATION: (KREST-fo-luhn)
MEANING: adjective: Dispirited or disappointed by having one's hopes dashed

ETYMOLOGY: From allusion to the drooping crest or comb of a bird, such as a rooster. From Latin crista (tuft)

canard
PRONUNCIATION: (kuh-NAHRD)
MEANING: noun:
1. A deliberately misleading story; hoax
2. An airplane with small forward wings mounted in front of the main wings; also such a wing

ETYMOLOGY: From French, literally a duck. The term is said to have come from the French expression vendre un canard à moitié (to half-sell a duck, or to take in or swindle)

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