toucan

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a tropical American bird with a very large, often brightly colored bill

   A toucan reached into the branches with its long orange bill.

Simplified etymology

Toucan entered English in the mid-16th century from Tupi, a language of Indigenous peoples of Amazonia. The Tupi name is imitative of the bird’s cry.

Borrowed through French, Spanish, or Portuguese from a Tupi word such as tukana for the bird. The Indigenous name may have imitated the toucan's call, though that explanation is uncertain.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary