Corbie

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A large black bird such as a raven or crow, particularly in Scottish usage ; a stone or metal projection that juts out from the top of a wall or gable
2. Any corvid bird, especially a raven, common in northern regions ; an ornamental or structural bracket at the roof edge or gable end
3. A raven or similar dark bird of the crow family ; a projecting stone or carved element set along the top edge of a building's wall

Etymology: Corbie is a Scots and northern English word for the carrion crow or raven, and its name traces back to the Latin word for raven itself. The Latin "corvus" passed into Old French in two forms, "corb" and the diminutive "corbel" (meaning little crow), and from there the word reached Middle French as "corbeau". The Norman dialect form "corbin" shows the same family in the variety of French spoken in Normandy, which had a strong influence on the English that took the word on. The English word thus arrived by a roundabout route: a Latin bird name, reshaped by French speakers, then taken up by English speakers who kept the bird's name alive in regional speech. The same Latin root gives English "corvine", the adjective meaning crow-like, though that came in later as a scientific-sounding borrowing rather than through the French line.

Synonyms: crow, raven