toucan
UK /ˈtuːkən/ · US /ˈtuːˌkæn/ noun
Forms toucans
- noun Any of various neotropical frugivorous birds from the family Ramphastidae, with a large colorful beak.
Etymology
Borrowed from French toucan, borrowed from Old Tupi tukana, from Proto-Tupi-Guarani *tũkãn, from Proto-Tupian *jɨokãn.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Any one of numerous species of fruit-eating birds of tropical America belonging to Ramphastos, Pteroglossus, and allied genera of the family Ramphastidæ. They have a very large, but light and thin, beak, often nearly as long as the body itself. Most of the species are brilliantly colored with red, yellow, white, and black in striking contrast.
- noun A modern constellation of the southern hemisphere.
Etymology [F., fr. Pg. tucano; from Brazilian name.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “toucan”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details