English Explanatory Dictionary

deathbird

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Tengmalm's owl (Nyctala tengmalmi)

Word forms

deathbird deathbirds

Etymology

From a superstition of some North American Indians that it presages death. Compare Salentino Sicilian oceddu de la morte (“owl”, literally “death bird”) and Malagasy vorondolo (“owl”, literally “ghost bird”).

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