lagopus

From the Latin lagōpūs, from the Ancient Greek λαγώπους (lagṓpous), from λαγώς (lagṓs, “hare”) + πούς (poús, “foot”); compare lagopod, lagopode. The bird was given this name because its feet resemble those of a hare.

• (UK) enPR: ləgōʹpəs, IPA^(key): /ləˈɡəʊpəs/
• Homophone: lagopous

lagopus (plural lagopodes)

1. (obsolete) The ptarmigan.

• “†Lago·pus” listed on page 28 of volume VI, part I (L, M) of A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles [1st ed., 1908]
    †Lago·pus. Obs. [a. L. lagōpūs, Gr. λαγώπους, f. λαγώς hare + πούς foot.] A bird with a foot resembling that of a hare; the ptarmigan. [¶] 1693 Sir T. P. Blount Nat. Hist. 385 Some..Birds..live upon the highest tops of the Alps, and that all the winter too..as..the Lagopus among birds. 1773 Barrington in Phil. Trans. LXIII. 224 The Lagopus, of which M. de Buffon gives an engraving, is in its winter plumage.
• “†laˈgopus” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd ed., 1989]

• Gopauls

From Ancient Greek λαγώπους (lagṓpous), from λαγώς (lagṓs, “hare”) + πούς (poús, “foot”).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ɫaˈɡoː.puːs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [laˈɡɔː.pus]

lagōpūs f (genitive lagōpodis); third declension

1. ptarmigan (a bird)
   • c. 77 CE – 79 CE, Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia X.LXVIII.134:

     […] , et praecipua sapore lagopus. Pedes leporino villo nomen hoc dedere cetero candidae, columbarum magnitudine. Non extra terram eam vesci facile, quando nec vita mansuescit et corpus ocissime marcescit. Est et alia nomine eodem, a coturnicibus magnitudine tantum differens, croceo unctu cibis gratissima.

     […] , the lagopus (ptarmigan) is of culinary notice too. It derives its name from the appearance of its feet, they seem to be covered with hare's fur, it is otherwise white and the size of a dove. It is no easy task having them from their native country to our plate, as they would be taken lifeless and their body wither but too fast. Another bird is known by this name, only different from the quail by its size, it makes for a delicious dish with saffron sauce.

2. hare's-foot (a herb)

Third-declension noun.

• “lagopus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press