bittern meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

bittern

noun

UK /ˈbɪtən/ · US /ˈbɪtəɹn/

Etymology From Middle English bitour, botor, from Old French butor, from Gallo-Roman *butitaurus, a blend of Latin būtiō (“bittern”) and taurus (“bull, ox”).

Several bird species in the Botaurinae subfamily of the heron family Ardeidae.

It is a great rock or cliff on the loneliest part of the mountains, and […] is known by the name of the Garden Rock. Near the foot of it is a small lake, the haunt of the solitary bittern, with water-snakes basking in the sun on the leaves of the pond-lilies which lie on the surface.1819, Washington Irving, The Sketch Book, Rip Van Winkle:

Derived terms: American bittern, Australasian bittern, black bittern, cinnamon bittern, common bittern, dwarf bittern, Eurasian bittern, forest bittern, least bittern, little bittern, New Zealand bittern, pinnated bittern, stripe-backed bittern, sunbittern, sun bittern, sun-bittern, Von Schrenck's bittern, yellow bittern
Related terms: Animals, bumble, egret, marsh, wader

bittern

noun

Etymology From bitter with an unclear suffix, perhaps a dialect form of -ing.

The liquor remaining after halite (common salt) has been harvested from saline water (brine).

The saline substance added to soy milk to coagulate it as a primary step in the production of tofu.

Now we add the bittern.2019, “The Secrets of Tofu across Japan”, in Seasoning the Seasons, NHK World-Japan:

Archaic A very bitter compound of quassia, cocculus indicus, etc., used by fraudulent brewers in adulterating beer.