lapwing
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈlæpwɪŋ/
Forms: form: lapwings
Etymology: From Middle English lapwynge, lapwynke, lappewincke, lapwynche, lhapwynche, from Old English hlēapewince (“lapwing”), from Old English hlēapan (“to leap”) + wincian (“to wink, make a sign”), due to its manner of flight. Cognate with West Frisian ljip (“lapwing”).
The modern form is influenced by folk etymology to resemble English wing.
Senses: examples: text: Plovers and lapwings are a large, virtually worldwide family that differs from sandpipers in, among other things, having a shorter, thicker, pigeonlike bill and more robust proportions.
ref: 1986, Steven L. Hilty, Bill Brown, A Guide to the Birds of Colombia, page 149:
text: The resident tropical plovers have much less pointed wings, and most of the lapwings have fairly rounded wing-tips, a wing shape apparently more adapted to aerial manoeuvrability than to long-distance migration.
ref: 2010, Des Thompson, Ingvar Byrkjedal, Tundra Plovers, page 36:
text: Lapwings are abundant winter visitors to the area but, like the Golden Plovers, vary greatly in number between years.
ref: 2010, Clive Finlayson, Birds of the Strait of Gibraltar, page 244:
glosses: Any of several medium-sized wading birds belonging to the subfamily Vanellinae, within family Charadriidae.
glosses: Any of several medium-sized wading birds belonging to the subfamily Vanellinae, within family Charadriidae.
The northern lapwing (Vanellus vanellus).
examples: text: This lapwing runs away with the shell on his head.
ref: c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:
glosses: A silly man.
Derived terms: taxonomic: Vanellus senegallus
word: African wattled lapwing
taxonomic: Vanellus resplendens
word: Andean lapwing
taxonomic: Vanellus tricolor
word: banded lapwing
taxonomic: Vanellus tectus
word: black-headed lapwing
taxonomic: Vanellus armatus
word: blacksmith lapwing
taxonomic: Vanellus melanopterus
word: black-winged lapwing
taxonomic: Vanellus superciliosus
word: brown-chested lapwing
taxonomic: Vanellus chilensis
alt: syn. Vanellus cayennensis
word: cayenne lapwing
taxonomic: Vanellus coronatus
word: crowned lapwing
taxonomic: Vanellus cinereus
word: gray-headed lapwing
taxonomic: Pluvialis squatarola
alt: syn. Squatarola cinerea
word: gray lapwing
taxonomic: Vanellus macropterus
word: Javan lapwing
taxonomic: Vanellus crassirostris
word: long-toed lapwing
taxonomic: Vanellus miles
word: masked lapwing
taxonomic: Vanellus vanellus
word: northern lapwing
taxonomic: Vanellus cayanus
word: pied lapwing
taxonomic: Vanellus indicus
word: red-wattled lapwing
taxonomic: Vanellus duvaucelii
word: river lapwing
taxonomic: Vanellus senegallus
word: Senegal lapwing
taxonomic: Vanellus gregarius
word: sociable lapwing
taxonomic: Vanellus chilensis
alt: syn. Vanellus cayennensis
word: southern lapwing
taxonomic: Vanellus melanocephalus
word: spot-breasted lapwing
taxonomic: Vanellus spinosus
word: spur-winged lapwing
taxonomic: Vanellus senegallus
word: wattled lapwing
taxonomic: Vanellus albiceps
word: white-crowned lapwing
taxonomic: Vanellus albiceps
word: white-headed lapwing
taxonomic: Vanellus leucurus
word: white-tailed lapwing
taxonomic: Vanellus malabaricus
word: yellow-wattled lapwing
Related terms: plover