widowbird Hear it!

widowbird definition

wid·ow·bird (wid′ō bʉrd′)

noun

whydah (bird)

Etymology: calque of Port viuva, widowbird, lit., widow (< L vidua: see widow): from the resemblance of its dark plumage to a widow's mourning clothes

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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