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least bittern

 - 2 dictionary results

least bittern

 
Use least bittern in a Sentence
–noun
See under bittern 1 (def. 2).
Origin:
1805–15, Americanism

bit⋅tern

1  [bit-ern]
–noun
1. any of several tawny brown herons that inhabit reedy marshes, as Botaurus lentiginosus (American bittern), of North America, and B. stellaris, of Europe.
2. any of several small herons of the genus Ixobrychus, as I. exilis (least bittern), of temperate and tropical North and South America.
Origin:
1510–20; bitter, bittor bittern + -n (perh. by assoc. with heron ), ME bito(u)r, butur, boto(u)r < AF bytore, AF, OF butor < VL *būtitaurus, equiv. to *būti-, perh. to be identified with L būteō a species of hawk (see buteo ) + L taurus bull (cited by Pliny as a name for a bird emitting a bellowing sound)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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