pheasant
/ˈfɛzənt/ noun
Forms pheasants
- noun (countable) A bird of family Phasianidae, often hunted for food.
- noun (uncountable) The meat of this bird, eaten as food.
Etymology
From Middle English fesaunt, fesant, from Old French fesan, from Latin phāsiānus, from Ancient Greek φᾱσιανός (phāsianós), meaning “[bird] of the river Φᾶσις (Phâsis)”, from where, it was supposed, the bird spread to the west. Replaced native Old English wōrhana, a variant of mōrhana. More at moorhen.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Any one of numerous species of large gallinaceous birds of the genus Phasianus, and many other genera of the family Phasianidæ, found chiefly in Asia.
- noun The ruffed grouse. [Southern U.S.]
Etymology [OE. fesant, fesaunt, OF. faisant, faisan, F. faisan, L. phasianus, Gr. 1. (Zoöl.) Defn: Any one of numerous species of large gallinaceous birds of the genus Phasianus, and many other genera of the family Phasianidæ, found chiefly in Asia. Note: The common, or English, pheasant (Phasianus Colchicus) is now found over most of temperate Europe, but was introduced from Asia. The ring-necked pheasant (P. torquatus) and the green pheasant (P. versicolor) have been introduced into Oregon. The golden pheasant (Thaumalea picta) is one of the most beautiful species. The silver pheasant (Euplocamus nychthemerus) of China, and several related species from Southern Asia, are very beautiful. 2. (Zoöl.) Defn: The ruffed grouse. [Southern U.S.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “pheasant”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details