birdly
adjEtymology From bird + -ly.
1
Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of birds; avian.
- Truth for the bird his eye discerns; By birdly hope his wing is strong; And full delight in birdly good; Makes utterance for itself in song.1850, Thomas Lynch, Memorials of Theophilus Trinol, student:
- "Nay, nay," quoth Luxury, "I laugh at thee, — Thou art the king of beasts and I of birds ; Men are of beastly and of birdly kind, But more are birdly and obedience show Only to me, for in their bosom nursed Caprice and Vanity which are my slaves [...]1916, John Rose, Poems: dedicated in loving memory to my boy Chester:
1 more example
- And in the birdly mind (actually in the birdly gonads), spring begins on their winter grounds with the increasing sunlight, as early as February.2002, John Hanson Mitchell, Following the sun: a bicycle pilgrimage from Andalisia to the Hebrides:
- Derived terms
- birdliness, unbirdly