ortolan

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a small migratory Eurasian bunting, Emberiza hortulana, historically fattened and eaten as a delicacy

   The naturalist identified the ortolan by its yellow throat and delicate song.

2. 2
   noun

   any of several similar birds called ortolans, especially the bobolink in North America

   Older American accounts sometimes call the bobolink an ortolan.

Borrowed through French ortolan from a Romance word meaning 'gardener,' ultimately Latin hortulanus, from hortulus, 'small garden.' The bird was so named because it frequented gardens and cultivated ground.

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