gizzard

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a thick-walled muscular part of the digestive tract that grinds food in birds and various other animals

   The chicken swallowed grit that helped its gizzard grind hard seeds.

2. 2
   noun

   the stomach or belly of a person; informal or humorous

   The comedian claimed that one more pie would burst his gizzard.

Simplified etymology

Gizzard entered late Middle English in the form giser, borrowed from Old French and ultimately based on Latin gigeria, “cooked entrails of fowl.” The final d was added during the 16th century.

From Middle English giser or geser, through Old French gesier from Latin gigeria, 'cooked entrails.' The word narrowed to the muscular grinding organ found in birds and several other animal groups, then developed a humorous human-stomach sense.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary