osprey
English
editEtymology
editFrom Late Middle English ospray, from Anglo-Norman ospriet, from Medieval Latin avis praedae (“bird of prey”), a generic term apparently confused with this specific bird in Old French on its similarity to ossifrage.
Pronunciation
edit- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈɑspɹi/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɒspɹeɪ/
Audio (US): (file)
Noun
editosprey (plural ospreys)
- A bird of prey (Pandion haliaetus) that feeds on fish and has white underparts and long, narrow wings each ending in four finger-like extensions.
- 1594, George Peele (attributed), The Battle of Alcazar
- I will provide thee of a princely osprey.
- 1613–1614 (date written), John Fletcher, William Shak[e]speare, The Two Noble Kinsmen: […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, for Iohn Waterson; […], published 1634, →OCLC, (please specify the page), (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
- But (oh Jove!) your actions, / Soon as they move, as ospreys do the fish, / Subdue before they touch.
- 2023 August 24, Mairead Sheehy, “'Like finding long-lost treasure': Ospreys breed in Ireland for first time in 200 years”, in Irish Examiner[1]:
- A pair of ospreys bred at a confidential nesting site in Co. Fermanagh in what has been described as like finding long-lost treasure.
- 1594, George Peele (attributed), The Battle of Alcazar
- Aigrette (ornamental feather).
Synonyms
edit- fish eagle (a misnomer as the osprey is not an eagle, but compare some of the translations below)
- fish hawk (a misnomer as the osprey is not a hawk)
- orfray (obsolete)
- ossifrage (from Latin "bone-breaker")
- osspringer (obsolete)
Derived terms
editTranslations
editbird of prey
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- English terms inherited from Middle English
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- English terms derived from Anglo-Norman
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- en:Birds of prey