widow bird

See also: widowbird

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Compound of widow +‎ bird.[3] The name for the family Viduidae derives from the genus name Vidua, from post-classical Latin vidua (“widow”) for males' black plumage,[3] which resembles the mourning clothes of a widow. Compare whydah, from Whydah, a city in the Kingdom of Dahomey, now Ouidah, Benin.[4] The terms widow-bird and whydah-bird influenced one another due to association of one species with the city.[4]

Noun

widow bird (plural widow birds)

  1. Any of several species of birds in the family Viduidae, incorporating whydahs and widow finches.
  2. Any of several species of birds in the genus Euplectes.

Derived terms

Translations

References

  1. ^ Jean Branford (1983), A Dictionary of South African English, Cape Town: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ Kenneth Newman (1993), Newman's Birds of Southern Africa, Johannesburg: Southern
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 “widowbird, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, July 2023.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 “whydah”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, July 2023.
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