Avocette

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A wading shorebird of the stilt family with long legs and a slender bill that curves sharply upward at the tip
2. A long-legged coastal bird that wades through shallow water and has a thin, upward-curving beak
3. A black and white marsh and mudflat bird whose slender bill bends upward, used to sweep through soft sediment for food

Etymology: The avocet is a black-and-white wading bird with a long, thin bill that curves sharply upward, and its name came into English in the 1600s from French "avocette", borrowed from Italian "avocetta". The Italian word is thought to come from a Venetian dialect term, and its exact origin is uncertain, though it has been linked to the Latin "avis", meaning bird. Scholars have not settled on a firm source, so the bird's name remains partly a mystery. What is clear is that the name was attached to the bird long before naturalists understood its place in the animal kingdom. Early European writers borrowed the term to describe the distinctive upturned bill, which is the feature that gives the bird its identity.