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capercaillie

 - 2 dictionary results

cap⋅er⋅cail⋅lie

  [kap-er-keyl-yee]
Use capercaillie in a Sentence
–noun
a large grouse, Tetrao urogallus, of Eurasian forests.
Also, cap⋅er⋅cail⋅zie  [kap-er-keyl-yee, -keyl-zee] .

Origin:
1530–40; < ScotGael capull coille (by dissimilation), lit., horse of the woods; for first element, cf. ME capel horse, ON kapall nag, from the same source (prob. Celtic) as L caballus horse; sp. lz is early typographical rendering of manuscript sp. l + yogh letter (repr. palatal l); cf. parallel sp. of surnames Mackenzie, Menzies
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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cap·er·cail·lie   (kāp'ər-kāl'yē, -kā'lē)   
n.  A large grouse (Tetrao urogallus), native to northern Europe and having dark plumage and a fanlike tail. Also called wood grouse.

[Scottish Gaelic capull coille : capull, horse (from Middle Irish capall, from Old Irish, ultimately from Latin caballus, of Celtic origin) + coille, genitive of coille, forest (from Old Irish caill).]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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