ostrich
pronunciation
How to pronounce ostrich in British English:
UK [ˈɒstrɪtʃ]
How to pronounce ostrich in American English:
US [ˈɑstrɪtʃ]
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- Noun:
- a person who refuses to face reality or recognize the truth (a reference to the popular notion that the ostrich hides from danger by burying its head in the sand)
- fast-running African flightless bird with two-toed feet; largest living bird
Word Origin
- ostrich
- ostrich: [13] Greek strouthós seems originally to have meant ‘sparrow’. Mégas strouthós ‘great sparrow’ – the understatement of the ancient world – was used for ‘ostrich’, and the ‘ostrich’ was also called strouthokámelos, because of its long camel-like neck. Eventually strouthós came to be used on its own for ‘ostrich’. From it was derived strouthíōn ‘ostrich’, which passed into late Latin as strūthiō (source of English struthious ‘ostrich-like’ [18]).Combined with Latin avis ‘bird’ (source of English augur, aviary, etc) this produced Vulgar Latin *avistrūthius, which passed into English via Old French ostrusce as ostrich.=> struthious
- ostrich (n.)
- early 13c., from Old French ostruce "ostrich" (Modern French autruche) and Medieval Latin ostrica, ostrigius, all from Vulgar Latin avis struthio, from Latin avis "bird" (see aviary) + Late Latin struthio "ostrich," from Greek strouthion "ostrich," from strouthos megale "big sparrow," perhaps from PIE *trozdo- "thrush" (see thrush (n.1)). The Greeks also knew the bird as strouthokamelos "camel-sparrow," for its long neck. Among its proverbial peculiarities are indiscriminate voracity (especially a habit of swallowing iron and stone to aid digestion), want of regard for its eggs, and a tendency to hide its head in the sand when pursued.Like the Austridge, who hiding her little head, supposeth her great body obscured. [1623, recorded in OED]Ostriches do put their heads in the sand, but ostrich farmers say they do this in search of something to eat.
Example
- 1. An ostrich 's eye is bigger than its brain .
- 2. Some italians eat donkeys ; south africans eat ostrich .
- 3. Tall and athletic : ostrich plumes and pompoms emphasise height
- 4. In one , an ostrich has his head buried in the ground .
- 5. One of the most fascinating stories is that of the trans-saharan ostrich expedition in 1911 .