ibis
nounUK, US /ˈaɪ.bɪs/
Etymology Mentioned in the Wycliffe Bible (Lev. 11:17) as ybyn or ibin, as ibys from 16th century and ibis shortly after. From Latin ībis, from Ancient Greek ἶβις (îbis), from Egyptian h-b-G26 (hbj) (compare Coptic ϩⲓⲃⲱⲓ (hibōi) or ϩⲓⲡ (hip)).
1
Any of various long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, having long downcurved bills used to probe the mud for prey such as crustaceans.
- It is out of the idolatrous dotings of the old Egyptians upon broiled ibis and roasted river horse, that you see the mummies of those creatures in their huge bake-houses the pyramids.1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “Loomings”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 4:
- Derived terms
25 terms
African sacred ibis, Australian white ibis, bald ibis, bare-faced ibis, black-faced ibis, black ibis, crested ibis, giant ibis, glossy ibis, green ibis, hadada ibis, ibisbill, ibislike, Japanese crested ibis, Madagascar ibis, plumbeous ibis, Puna ibis, Reunion ibis, sacred ibis, scarlet ibis, sharp-tailed ibis, straw-necked ibis, white-faced ibis, white ibis, wood ibis