guano

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats, especially when collected and used as fertilizer

   Workers gathered guano from the dry island cliffs for use as fertilizer.

Borrowed from Spanish guano, from Quechua wanu, 'dung or fertilizer.' Large dry deposits on Pacific islands became internationally valuable in the nineteenth century because they are rich in nitrogen and phosphorus.

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