cassowary

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a large, powerful flightless bird of the genus Casuarius, native chiefly to New Guinea and northern Australia, with a horny casque on its head

   The male cassowary guarded the chicks beneath the rainforest canopy.

Simplified etymology

Cassowary entered English from Malay in the early 17th century as the name of a fierce bird.

Borrowed in the early seventeenth century from Malay kasuari, ultimately from an Austronesian language of the Moluccas. European naturalists applied the borrowed name to the large casque-bearing ratite of New Guinea and nearby Australia.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary