curlew

curlew

English

A curlew

Etymology

From Middle English curlew, from Old French courlieu (see French courlis), claimed to be imitative of the bird's cry but apparently assimilated with dialectal *corliu (“runner, messenger”), a variant of coureur (the bird is adept at running).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɜːlju/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɜːlu/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkɝlu/

Noun

curlew (plural curlews)

1. Any of several migratory wading birds in the genus Numenius of the family Scolopacidae, remarkable for their long, slender, downcurved bills.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• bristle-thighed curlew, Numenius tahitiensis
• eastern curlew, Numenius madagascariensis
• Eskimo curlew, Numenius borealis
• Eurasian curlew, Numenius arquata

• little curlew, Numenius minutus
• long-billed curlew, Numenius americanus
• slender-billed curlew, Numenius tenuirostris

Translations

migratory wading bird

Arabic: كَرَوَان‎ m (karawān) Egyptian Arabic: كروان‎ m (karawan) Catalan: becut m, polit (ca) m Czech: koliha (cs) f Dutch: wulp (nl) Finnish: kuovi (fi) French: courlis (fr) m Galician: mazarico m German: Brachvogel m Greek: νουμήνιος m (noumínios), (colloquial:) τουρλί (turli) n, τουρλίδα f (tourlída) Irish: crotach m, cuirliún m Italian: chiurlo (it) m Latvian: kuitila Lithuanian: kuolinga (lt)

Navajo: daakʼį́į́ʼ Norman: couorlieu m Nyunga: weerlow Polish: kulik (pl) m Portuguese: maçarico (pt) m Romanian: corlă (ro) f, găinușă-de-baltă (ro) f Russian: кроншне́п (ru) m (kronšnép) Scots: whaup Scottish Gaelic: guilbneach m Spanish: zarapito m Venetian: arcasa f Welsh: gylfinir m Westrobothnian: spovi m, spovit m

See also

• curlew sandpiper
• stone curlew

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Middle English

Alternative forms

• curlewe, curlue, curlu, curlowe, curleeu, corlew, corlewe, corlue, kurlu, kurlew

Etymology

From Old French courlieu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kurˈliu̯/, /ˈkurliu̯/

Noun

curlew (plural curlewes)

1. curlew
2. quail

Descendants

• English: curlew

References

• “curleu (n.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-03-09.