ən noun
any of numerous long-legged, long-necked, usually long-billed birds of the family Ardeidae, including the true herons, egrets, night herons, and bitterns.
Origin:
1275–1325; Middle English heiro(u)n, hero(u)n < Middle French hairon (French héron) < Germanic; compare Old High German heigir
1275–1325; Middle English heiro(u)n, hero(u)n < Middle French hairon (French héron) < Germanic; compare Old High German heigir
Dictionary.com Unabridged
noun
Hero ( def 2 ).
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
|
Link To Heron
00:10
Heron
is always a great word to know.
So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
Hero or Heron2 (ˈhɪərəʊ) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1st century | |
| Heron or Heron2 | |
| —n | |
| heron (ˈhɛrən) | |
| —n | |
| any of various wading birds of the genera Butorides, Ardea, etc, having a long neck, slim body, and a plumage that is commonly grey or white: family Ardeidae, order Ciconiiformes | |
| [C14: from Old French hairon, of Germanic origin; compare Old High German heigaro, Old Norse hegri] | |
| Heron (ˈhɪərɒn) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | same as Hero |
| 2. | Patrick. 1920--99, British abstract painter and art critic |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
heron
c.1120s, from O.Fr. hairon, from Frank. *haigiro (cf. O.H.G. heigaro "heron"), from P.Gmc. *khraigran-, from PIE *qriq-, perhaps imitative of its cry (cf. O.C.S. kriku "cry, scream," Lith. kryksti "to shriek"). O.E. cognate hraga did not survive into M.E.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Easton
Bible Dictionary
Heron definition
(Lev. 11:19; Deut. 14:18), ranked among the unclean birds. The Hebrew name is _'anaphah_, and indicates that the bird so named is remarkable for its angry disposition. "The herons are wading-birds, peculiarly irritable, remarkable for their voracity, frequenting marshes and oozy rivers, and spread over the regions of the East." The Ardea russeta, or little golden egret, is the commonest species in Asia.
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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