Word: kite Part of Speech: noun Etymology: The noun is from Middle English kyte, kīte, kete (“a kite endemic to Europe, especially the red kite (Milvus milvus)”), from Old English cȳta (“kite; bittern”), from Proto-West Germanic *kūtijō, diminutive of Proto-West Germanic *kūt (“bird of prey”), from Proto-Indo-European *gewH-d- (“to cry, screech”). The English word is cognate with Scots kyt, kyte (“kite; bird of prey”), Middle High German kiuzelīn, kützlīn (“owling”) (modern German Kauz (“owl”)). Possibly a doublet of coot. Sense 3 (“lightweight toy”) is from the fact that it hovers in the air like the bird. The verb is derived from the noun. Pronunciation: /kaɪt/, /kəɪt/, [kʰəɪʔ] 1. A bird of prey of the family Accipitridae. Example: A pair of kites built a nest on the cliff. Example: And yet the ſillie kight, well weyde in each degree, May ſerue ſometimes (as in his kinde) for mans commoditie. The kight can weede the worme from corne and coſtly ſeedes, The kight cã kill the mowldiwarpe, in pleaſant meads yͭ breeds: Out of the ſtately ſtreetes the kight can clenſe the filth, As mẽ can clẽſe the worthleſſe weedes frõ fruteful fallow tilth; […] 2. A bird of prey of the family Accipitridae. Example: The milvus, or kite, is a native of Europe, Asia, and Africa. […] Its motion in the air distinguishes it from all other birds, being so smooth and even that it is scarcely perceptible. Example: In Hindu erotic literature, to consummate sexual supremacy, a prescription often in use requires a mixture of honey and cowach, the prickly hairs of a tropical pod, along with the remains of a dead kite, in pulverized form. 3. A bird of prey of the family Accipitridae. Example: The ‘white-tailed’ kites in the genus Elanus (‘kite’) are small, gull-like, grey-and-white hawks with black forewing patches and varying amounts of black on the underwings. 4. A bird of prey of the family Accipitridae. Example: The swallow-tailed kite of the New World (Elanoides forficatus) is a striking black and white bird of the subfamily Perninae. It is about 60 cm (24 inches) long, including its long forked tail. It is most common in tropical eastern South America but also occurs from Central America to the United States. 5. A rapacious person. Labels: figuratively Example: deteſted kite, thou li[e]ſt[.] [M]y traine, and^([sic – meaning are]) men of choiſe and rareſt parts, that all particulars of dutie knowe, and in the moſt exact regard, ſupport the worſhip of their name, [...] 6. A lightweight toy or other device, traditionally flat and shaped like a triangle with a segment of a circle attached to its base or like a quadrilateral (see sense 9), carried on the wind and tethered and controlled from the ground by one or more lines. Example: On windy spring days, we would fly kites. Example: What for do ye want to get baker's bread, aunt? This dough will rise as high as a kite in the south wind. 7. A tethered object which deflects its position in a medium by obtaining lift and drag in reaction with its relative motion in the medium. Example: The purpose of the water kite is to float beneath or beside the ship at a depth sufficient to insure safety. 8. A planetary configuration wherein one planet of a grand trine is in opposition to an additional fourth planet. Example: Frequently a kite formation is created by one of the planets in the trine by its opposition to another planet, which allows expulsion and redirection of the pent-up energy associated with a closed circuit. 9. A blank cheque; a fraudulent cheque, such as one issued even though there are insufficient funds to honour it, or one that has been altered without authorization. Labels: slang Example: But she said, "if this was a kite, he didn't realize that you don't have the float time of the old days," which made check-kiting easier. 10. An accommodation bill (“a bill of exchange endorsed by a reputable third party acting as a guarantor, as a favour and without compensation”). Labels: slang Example: The advantages which are alleged to belong to the district system [of banking] are the following:— […] as each bank will have an agent in London, the bills they draw will thus have two parties as securities, and the public will have a pledge that there is no excessive issue in the form of kites or accommodation bills. 11. A rider who is good at climbs but less good at descents. Labels: slang 12. A polygon resembling the shape of a traditional toy kite (sense 3): a quadrilateral having two pairs of edges of equal length, the edges of each pair touching each other at one end. Example: A kite is a quadrilateral with exactly two pairs of adjacent congruent sides. Note that a parallelogram has opposite congruent sides, whereas the congruent sides of kites are adjacent. Therefore, a kite is also a parallelogram only when both pairs of adjacent congruent sides of the kite are congruent to each other, making the kite a rhombus. 13. An aeroplane or aircraft. Labels: slang Example: And did you know the Chiefie said that one of our kites went in the drink last night? Example: This time, the engine roared and the kite rocked against the brakes then sluggishly rolled down the strip. 14. In a square-rigged ship: originally a sail positioned above a topsail; later a lightweight sail set above the topgallants, such as a studding sail or a jib topsail. Labels: dated Example: Our good master keeps his kites up to the last moment, studding-sails alow and aloft, and, by incessant straight steering, never loses a rod of way. 15. A spinnaker (“supplementary sail to a mainsail”). Labels: slang Example: The key to a good gybe is to bring the spinnaker round to the old weather side before you begin, and then to steer to keep some wind in the kite. 16. The brill (Scophthalmus rhombus), a type of flatfish. Labels: UK, dialectal Example: Brill (Scophthalmus rhombus) Also known as kite or pearl. Brill reaches a maximum length of 75cm (29½in). It lives in the Eastern Atlantic, from Iceland to Morocco, throughout the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. 17. A (usually concealed) letter or oral message, especially one passed illegally into, within, or out of a prison. Labels: US, slang Example: Officers must maintain control by making sure their inmate count is correct, by checking inmates' passes as they walk the hall […] This helps prevent the occasional juggling of goods, gang communication, such as kites (a written request from one inmate to another), and inmate assaults, such as face cuts or stabbings.