English Explanatory Dictionary

liver bird

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A cormorant-like bird which symbolizes the English city of Liverpool.

Pronunciation

/ˈlaɪvə ˌbɜːd/

Word forms

liver bird liver birds

Etymology

The etymology of the first element is uncertain. Perhaps simply a clipping of Liverpool. However, the word was identified in Randle Holme III's Academie of Armorie (1688) with German Löffler (“spoonbill”), as well as Low Dutch (i.e. Low German) forms cited as "Lepler, or Lepelner, or Lefler". If this etymology is true, it might have been adopted due to the rebus this word made on the name Liverpool. Also compare Dutch lepelaar (“spoonbill”). Either way, the modern vowel in the first syllable is unexplained.

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