secretary bird

sec·re·tar·y bird

S s

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [sek-ri-ter-ee burd]
- /ˈsɛk rɪˌtɛr i bɜrd/
- /ˈsekrətri bɜːd/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [sek-ri-ter-ee burd]
- /ˈsɛk rɪˌtɛr i bɜrd/

Definitions of secretary bird words

noun secretary bird a large, long-legged, raptorial bird, Sagittarius serpentarius, of Africa, that feeds on reptiles. 1
noun secretary bird a large African long-legged diurnal bird of prey, Sagittarius serpentarius, having a crest and tail of long feathers and feeding chiefly on snakes: family Sagittariidae, order Falconiformes (hawks, falcons, etc) 0
noun secretary bird a large, black and grayish-blue African bird of prey (Sagittarius serpentarius), the only species in its family (Sagittariidae), with a long neck, long legs, and tufts of penlike feathers sticking out from the back of its head: it feeds on insects, snakes, etc. 0

See all 3 definitions of secretary bird

Information block about the term

Origin of secretary bird

First appearance:

before 1790

One of the 43% newest English words

1790-1800; < French secrétaire, perhaps by folk etymology < Sudanese Arabic ṣagr al-ṭēr, equivalent to ṣagr hawk + al the + ṭēr birds (collective)

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Secretary bird

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Secretary bird

secretary bird popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 31% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.

According to our data about 59% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.

secretary bird usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

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