[mal-erd] 
) -lard. | a common, almost cosmopolitan, wild duck, Anas platyrhynchos, from which the domestic ducks are descended. |
| mal·lard (māl'ərd) n. pl. mallard or mal·lards A wild duck (Anas platyrhynchos) of which the male has a green head and neck. Most domestic ducks descend from the mallard. [Middle English malarde, from Old French mallart : perhaps from male, male; see male + -ard, -ard, and or possibly of Germanic origin.] |