Loerie

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A crested, green-feathered bird of southern Africa that is also known as the go-away bird for its harsh call
2. A southern African turaco with a showy crest and glossy plumage, noted for its loud, far-carrying cry
3. The go-away bird, a brightly colored crested turaco native to the woodlands and bush of southern Africa

Etymology: The loerie is a South African bird, better known as the go-away-bird or turaco, and its name travels a long way from the Malay archipelago. The word comes from Afrikaans "loerie," which in turn goes back to the same Malay word, "nuri" or "luri," meaning "parrot," that also gave English the word "lory." Early South African settlers, looking at the brightly coloured birds of their new home, borrowed a name from the Malay-speaking world far to the east, where parrots were the familiar birds. The link to "lory" is the key clue. Both words descend from one Malay term for a parrot, so the loerie and the lory are cousins who entered different languages by different routes. The loerie's name was adapted into Afrikaans, the Dutch-derived language of South Africa, and transferred to a bird that is not a parrot at all.

Synonyms: louri, turaco