lapwing
noun/ˈlæpwɪŋ/
Etymology From Middle English lapwynge, lapwynke, lappewincke, lapwynche, lhapwynche, from Old English hlēapewince (“lapwing”), from Old English hlēapan (“to leap”) + wincian (“to wink, make a sign”), due to its manner of flight. Cognate with West Frisian ljip (“lapwing”). The modern form is influenced by folk etymology to resemble English wing.
1
Any of several medium-sized wading birds belonging to the subfamily Vanellinae, within family Charadriidae.
- Plovers and lapwings are a large, virtually worldwide family that differs from sandpipers in, among other things, having a shorter, thicker, pigeonlike bill and more robust proportions.1986, Steven L. Hilty, Bill Brown, A Guide to the Birds of Colombia, page 149:
- The resident tropical plovers have much less pointed wings, and most of the lapwings have fairly rounded wing-tips, a wing shape apparently more adapted to aerial manoeuvrability than to long-distance migration.2010, Des Thompson, Ingvar Byrkjedal, Tundra Plovers, page 36:
1 more example
- Lapwings are abundant winter visitors to the area but, like the Golden Plovers, vary greatly in number between years.2010, Clive Finlayson, Birds of the Strait of Gibraltar, page 244:
2
The northern lapwing (Vanellus vanellus).
3
Obsolete A silly man.
- This lapwing runs away with the shell on his head.c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:
- Derived terms
28 terms
African wattled lapwing, Andean lapwing, banded lapwing, black-headed lapwing, blacksmith lapwing, black-winged lapwing, brown-chested lapwing, cayenne lapwing, crowned lapwing, gray-headed lapwing, gray lapwing, Javan lapwing, long-toed lapwing, masked lapwing, northern lapwing, pied lapwing, red-wattled lapwing, river lapwing, Senegal lapwing, sociable lapwing, southern lapwing, spot-breasted lapwing, spur-winged lapwing, wattled lapwing, white-crowned lapwing, white-headed lapwing, white-tailed lapwing, yellow-wattled lapwing- Related terms
- plover