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toucan|tuːˈkɑːn, ˈtuːkən|
Also 8 tokan, 9 toukan.
[= F. toucan, Sp. tucan, Pg., It. tucano, a. Brazilian, Tupi tucana, Guarani tucà, tucāṅ (a nasal), the native name, prob. from its cry or call; but other suggestions have been offered.
The statement of Buffon that the name means ‘feather’ arose from his misunderstanding a statement of Léry c 1558: see J. Platt in N. & Q. 9th s. VII. 486–VIII. 250.]
1. A Neotropical bird of the genus Rhamphastos, or, in a wider use, of the family Rhamphastidæ, inhabiting the tropical parts of South America, a few species being also found in Central America and Mexico. They are noted for the enormous size of the beak and their striking colouring. The species originally so named was app. R. toco.
[1558Thevet Sing. France Antarctique, D'un oyseau qu'ils appellent en leur langue Toucan.] 1568tr. Thevet's New-found. World 73 Of a birde named toucan. 1634T. Johnson Parey's Chirurg. xxv. xxii. (1678) 621 He saw a Bird in America, which in that Countrey Speech is called Touca,..that the beak in length and thickness exceeds the bigness of the rest of the body. 1668Charleton Onomast. 115 Tucana..Toucan. 1677Plot Oxfordsh. 178 In..1644 the Pica Brasiliensis, or Toucan, whose beak is near as big as its whole body, was found within two miles of Oxford. 1681Grew Musæum i. iv. i. 59 The Head of the Toucan, so called by the Indians. 1796Stedman Surinam I. vi. 117 The toucan is not larger than a tame pigeon, and yet its beak is no less than six inches in length. 1863Bates Nat. Amazon xii. (1864) 404 Toucans... Two of them are often heard yelping alternately, and in different notes. These cries have a vague resemblance to the syllables Tocáno, Tocáno, and hence the Indian name of this genus of birds. 1875Whitney Life Lang. vii. 120 The cuckoo and the peewee and the toucan were named from their notes.
b. Sometimes applied or misapplied to other birds with large or curious beaks; esp. in the East Indies to species of Hornbill (Buceros).
But the word in the latter case is said to be the Malay tukang ‘workman’ or ‘artificer’, and entirely distinct from the Brazilian: see Yule & Burnell Hobson-Jobson.
1816Tuckey Narr. Exped. R. Zaire iii. (1818) 82 Several varieties of the king fisher, a toukan, and many small birds. 1862Jerdon Birds of India I. 242 They [the hornbills] are, indeed, popularly called Toucans throughout India; and this appears to be their name in some of the Malayan isles; the word signifying ‘worker’, from the noise they make.
2. Astron. Name of a southern constellation.
1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. vi. iii. 128 The Bird Toucan [pr. Taican], or Brasilian Pye, in which Constellation is 7 Stars. 1868Lockyer Guillemin's Heavens xii. (1872) 319 The splendid cluster in Toucan, quite visible to the naked eye.
3. Comb., as toucan skin, etc.; toucan-beak, the beak of the toucan, or the substance of this used as a decorative material.
1862List Contrib. fr. Brit. Guiana to Lond. Exhib. in Veness El Dorado (1866) App. 145 Tassel of Toucan Skins, worn by the Accawai Indians..hanging down the back. 1886Art Jrnl., Exh. Suppl. 26/2 Some clever and minute carvings in toucan-beak set with alternate links in gold.
Hence toucanet |ˈtuːkəˌnɛt|, any of the smaller kinds of toucan, as those of the genera Pteroglossus and Selenidera; toucanity |tuːˈkænɪtɪ| nonce-wd., the character of a toucan.
1825Waterton Wand. S. Amer. ii. 118 There are three species of Toucans in Demerara, and three diminutives, which may be called Toucanets. 1892Cornh. Mag. May 525 A large bill..a mark of perfect and advanced toucanity.
▸ Toucan Crossing n. (also with lower-case initial(s)) after pelican crossing at pelican n. 9; compare puffin crossing at puffin n.3; the suggestion of a punning connection with two can cross is probably a later rationalization Brit. a pedestrian crossing on which a cyclist may cross without dismounting (when indicated by a ‘green bicycle’ light next to the ‘green man’ light).
1994Independent 6 Feb. (Mag.) 67/2 Common in Germany and the Netherlands, cycleways are gradually appearing in the UK. Ideally (but rarely in Britain) these are augmented by such tricks as ‘*toucan’ crossings (like pelicans, but for cyclists too). 2005S. Wales Echo (Nexis) 30 Aug. 6 Plans for the development put forward the introduction of..toucan crossings and advanced cycle stop reservoirs where possible, as well as the retention of shared cycle/bus lanes. |