dartern.
/ˈdɑːtə/, U.S. /ˈdɑrdər/ 1. † b. A harpooner. Obsolete.
a. One who throws or shoots darts; a soldier armed with a dart.
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society > armed hostility > warrior > armed man > [noun] > one using missiles > dart
lancera1500
darter1565
far-darter1598
dartman1606
dartsman1770
1565–73 T. Cooper Thesaurus at Certus Iaculis certus, a sure and cunning darter.
1579 T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 506 Appointing his archers and darters to whurle..their dartes..to the toppes of the houses.
a1656 J. Ussher Ann. World (1658) 730 Having a strong guard of darters and slingers.
a1817 R. L. Edgeworth Mem. (1820) I. 204 He was called Jack the Darter. He threw his darts..to an amazing height.
1849 G. Grote Hist. Greece VI. ii. liii. 520 To organise either darters or slingers.
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society > occupation and work > industry > whaling and seal-hunting > whaling > whale-hunter > [noun] > harpooner
harpooneer1613
darter1720
harpooner1726
specksioneer1820
pitchpoler1851
1720 W. R. Chetwood Voy. Capt. R. Falconer i. 10 The wounded Fish [sc. dolphin] immediately flownces..which the Darter observes, giving him Rope and Play.
2. A person or animal that darts or moves swiftly.
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1818 Ld. Byron Childe Harold: Canto IV lxvii. 36 The finny darter with the glittering scales.
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the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Lacertilia (lizards) > [noun] > family Scincidae > member of genus Acontias (dart-snake)
dart1591
darter1608
dart-serpent1608
arrow snake1611
dart-snake1694
shoot-serpent1731
javelin-snake1835
1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 146 Certaine [serpents] in Hungary..do leape vpon men, as these Darters do.
1820 W. Tooke tr. Lucian Lucian of Samosata I. 96 Innumerable asps..darters, cow-suckers and toads.
4.
a. English name of the genus Plotus or family Plotidæ of web-footed birds of the pelican tribe, with long neck and small head, found in parts of tropical Africa and America, and in Australia; so called from their way of darting on their prey.
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the world > animals > birds > order Pelecaniformes > [noun] > member of family Anhingidae (darter)
anhinga1769
snake-bird1791
darter1825
serpent bird1870
Colorado or water-turkeya1889
1825 R. T. Gore tr. Blumenbach Nat. Hist. v. 126 Anhinga, the Darter. P. ventre albo.
1881 G. M. Fenn Off to Wilds (1888) xxx. 210 That curious water-bird, the darter, swimming with its body nearly submerged, and its long, snaky neck, ready to dart its keen bill with almost lightning rapidity at the tiny fish upon which it fed.
b. plural. The order Jaculatores in Macgillivray's classification of birds, comprising the kingfishers, bee-eaters, and jacamars; from their habit of darting upon their prey.
5. A name for various fishes; esp. the small freshwater fishes constituting the North American subfamily Etheostominæ of the family Percidæ, which dart from their retreats when disturbed.
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > family Percidae (perches) > [noun] > member of subfamily Etheostominae
darter1842
Johnny1875
rainbow darter1876
1842 J. E. De Kay Zool. N.-Y. iv. 20 The Tessellated Darter. Bolesoma tessellatum... It is usually seen at the bottom of clear springs or streams, lying for a while perfectly still, and then suddenly darts off with great velocity at its prey. This habit has acquired for it the popular name of Darter.
1884 G. B. Goode in G. B. Goode et al. Fisheries U.S.: Sect. I 417 Darters are found in all fresh waters of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains.
1887 C. C. Abbott Waste-land Wanderings vii. 210 There was a goodly company of little darters or etheostomoids..all of one species—the common tessellated darter.
Draft additions 1993
6. Entomology. Any dragonfly whose flight behaviour is characterized by darting to and from a particular perch; spec. a member of the family Libellulidae. Also darter dragonfly.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > subclass Pterygota > [noun] > division Exopterygota or Hemimetabola > order Odonata > suborder Anisoptera > genus Libellula > member of
darter dragonfly1937
1917 R. J. Tillyard Biol. Dragonflies xvii. 322 Amongst the Aeschnidae in general, a ‘darting’ method of flight is very evident, the insect progressing by a series of jerks.]
1937 C. Longfield Dragonflies Brit. Isles 38 Anisoptera. Hawker and darter dragon-flies.
1987 Camera Weekly 25 July 56/2 Powder blue or crimson darters repeatedly return to the same prominent twig.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1894; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1565