hoopoe

C2 Topic:Animals
US /ˈhuːˌpuː/ UK /ˈhuːˌpuː/
noun Freq #93981

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    a crested Old World bird of the genus Upupa, with a long downcurved bill and boldly barred black-and-white wings and tail

    The hoopoe raised its fan-shaped crest before probing the soil for insects.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 noun · a crested old world bird of... Eurasian hoopoe
Word family
Related forms Upupacrestinsectivorehornbill

Etymology

An alteration of obsolete hoop or hoopoop, through French huppe from Latin upupa. The ancient bird name is imitative of the hoopoe's repeated call; related echoic forms occur in Greek and several other languages.

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