Toucan

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈtuːkən/

Definitions

1. A large tropical bird with a massive curved beak and colorful plumage, native to Central and South America
2. A colorful avian with an oversized curved bill inhabiting tropical rainforests of the Americas
3. A tropical American bird characterized by its distinctive large hooked beak and vibrant feathering

Etymology: The bird's name travelled a long way before reaching English. It was borrowed into French from Old Tupi, the language of indigenous peoples along the Brazilian coast, where the form "tukana" was used for this bird. Its roots go back further still, to a reconstructed Proto-Tupi-Guarani form, and the Tupian ancestor of that word is reconstructed as "jɨokãn", so the name is far older than any European contact with the bird. The word reached English through French, which is why it looks and sounds more like a French coinage than a South American one. The English form keeps the stress on the first syllable, a pattern common in words that came through French from Tupi-speaking regions of South America.

Synonyms: bird