curlew

English

Etymology

From Middle English curlew, from Old French courlieu (see French courlis), claimed to be imitative of the bird's cry but apparently assimilated with dialectal *corliu (“runner, messenger”), a variant of coureur (the bird is adept at running).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɜːlju/, /ˈkɜːlu/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɝlu/

Noun

curlew (plural curlews)

1. Any of several migratory wading birds in the genus Numenius, remarkable for their long, slender, downcurved bills.
2. (Australia) A stone curlew (Burhinidae spp.).
   • 1902, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Bush Studies (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 16:

     That quivering wail from the billabong lying murkily mystic towards the East was only the cry of the fearing curlew.

Derived terms

• beach stone-curlew
• bristle-thighed curlew (Numenius tahitiensis)
• bush stone-curlew
• curlewlike
• eastern curlew (Numenius madagascariensis)
• Eskimo curlew (Numenius borealis)
• Eurasian curlew (Numenius arquata)
• Eurasian stone-curlew
• great stone-curlew
• Hudsonian curlew
• little curlew (Numenius minutus)
• long-billed curlew (Numenius americanus)
• northern curlew
• slender-billed curlew (Numenius tenuirostris)
• stone-curlew

Translations

migratory wading bird

Albanian: kojlik (sq) m, kllinzë (sq) f Arabic: كَرَوَان m (karawān) Egyptian Arabic: كروان m (karawan) Asturian: algaraván (ast), zarapicu (ast) Catalan: becut m, polit (ca) m Czech: koliha (cs) f Dutch: wulp (nl) Esperanto: kurlo, numenio Finnish: kuovi (fi) French: courlis (fr) m Galician: mazarico m German: Brachvogel m Greek: νουμήνιος m (noumínios), τουρλί n (tourlí) (colloquial), τουρλίδα f (tourlída) Hebrew: חֶרְמְשׁוֹן Hungarian: póling (hu) Ingrian: sookulikka, vihmakulli, vesikulli Irish: crotach m, cuirliún m Italian: chiurlo (it) m Latvian: kuitila Lithuanian: kuolinga (lt) Navajo: daakʼį́į́ʼ Norman: couorlieu m Nyunga: weerlow Polish: kulik (pl) m, kulig (pl) m Portuguese: maçarico (pt) m Romanian: corlă (ro) f, găinușă-de-baltă (ro) f Russian: кроншне́п (ru) m (kronšnép) Scots: whaup Scottish Gaelic: guilbneach m Spanish: zarapito (es) m Swahili: membe Venetan: arcasa f Welsh: gylfinir m

See also

• curlew sandpiper
• stone curlew

References

• “curlew”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• curlew on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Numenius on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Category:Numenius on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Middle English

Alternative forms

• curlewe, curlue, curlu, curlowe, curleeu, corlew, corlewe, corlue, kurlu, kurlew

Etymology

From Old French courlieu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kurˈliu̯/, /ˈkurliu̯/

Noun

curlew (plural curlewes)

1. curlew
2. quail

Descendants

• English: curlew

References

• “curleu, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 9 March 2019.