beccafico

[ bek-uh-fee-koh ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

a small songbird, especially the European garden warbler, Silvia hortensis, eaten as a delicacy in France and the Mediterranean region.

beccafico

/ ˌbɛkəˈfiːkəʊ /

any of various European songbirds, esp warblers of the genus Sylvia , eaten as a delicacy in Italy and other countries

1620–25; < Italian: literally, figpecker < beccare “to peck” (< becco “beak” < Latin beccus ) + fico “fig” (< Latin ficus )

C17: from Italian, from beccare to peck + fico fig, from Latin fīcus

There is Malvoisia sack,” said the man in black, “and partridge, and beccafico.

The young birds themselves are said to be very delicate food, and not inferior in richness of flavour to the beccafico.

Beccafico, a European bird (Sylvia hortensis), the garden-warbler.

She had just finished a beccafico, and seemed disposed for conversation.

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