Hookbill

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. Describing a bird whose beak curves sharply downward into a hook, as in parrots or birds of prey
2. Referring to a bird that has a bill shaped like a hook, a feature common among parrots and raptors
3. Having a curved, hook-shaped beak of the kind seen in parrots, hawks and similar birds

Etymology: Hookbill is a compound of "hook" and "bill", and the two parts do exactly what their names suggest. A "bill" here is the beak of a bird, the same sense that gives us the bill of a duck, and the hook refers to the beak's curved, hooked shape. The word therefore names birds whose beaks curve sharply downward at the tip, most often parrots and some other birds of prey, and as an adjective it describes a beak with that shape. The pairing is a plain descriptive coinage rather than a word with a dramatic backstory. Its transparency is part of its appeal: anyone who has seen a parrot's beak can work out the meaning from the two halves alone.