sheldrake
noun, proper noun
Forms sheldrakes Sheldrick
- noun An Old World duck of the genus Tadorna (shelducks).
- noun A male shelduck.
- noun A merganser.
- noun The call sign for an artillery officer.
- proper noun A surname transferred from the nickname.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English sheld- (“parti-colored”) (akin to Middle Dutch shillede) + drake (“male duck”).
From sheldrake, a nickname for a vain or showy person.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Any one of several species of large Old World ducks of the genus Tadorna and allied genera, especially the European and Asiatic species. (T. cornuta, or tadorna), which somewhat resembles a goose in form and habit, but breeds in burrows.
- noun Any one of the American mergansers.
Etymology [Sheld + drake.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “sheldrake”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details