Ospray

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A large brown and white raptor that dives into water to catch fish with its sharp talons
2. A fish-hunting bird of prey with dark upper parts and pale underside, found near coastal and freshwater habitats
3. A powerful diving hawk that hunts fish by plunging feet-first into water from the air

Etymology: "Ospray" is an obsolete spelling of "osprey", the fish-eating hawk, and the bird's name was once a mistake. It came into Late Middle English from Anglo-Norman "ospriet", which in turn came from Medieval Latin "avis praedae", meaning "bird of prey". That was a generic phrase for any predatory bird, not a name for one species. The specific bird got its name through confusion in Old French. Speakers there seem to have linked the generic term with "ossifrage", an older word for a different large bird, and the two blended until "ospriet" attached itself to the fish hawk. Because the fish hawk hunts live prey, the generic label fit it well enough to stick.