fire-backedadj.
/ˈfʌɪəbakt/, U.S. /ˈfaɪ(ə)rˌbækt/ In the names of birds and mammals: having a reddish back.
ΚΠ
1797 G. Staunton Authentic Acct. Embassy to China I. p. xix (caption) The fire-backed pheasant of Java.
1834 P. J. Begbie Malayan Penins. xiii. 518 A very minute species, which I shall distinguish by the name of Nectarinea ignita, or Firebacked humming bird..is only two inches long.
1907 Zool. Soc. Bull. July 363/1 Among the species exhibited are the following: Eastern chipmunk, western chipmunk,..Columbian fire-backed squirrel, [etc.].
1983 J. May Nonborn King 244 The great brown eyes were abstracted, seeming to watch a fire-backed eagle that wheeled slowly in the cloudless May sky.
Compounds
fire-backed pheasant n. = fireback n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > family Phasianidae (pheasants, etc.) > [noun] > member of genus Lophura > lophura ignitus (fire-back)
fire-backed pheasant1797
fireback1829
Macartney1834
1797Fire-backed pheasant [see main sense].
1878 Ibis Oct. 411 I should have an opportunity of examining the specimen of the Fire-backed Pheasant.
1934 Times 17 Mar. 9/2 Mr. Carruthers's gift included some thick-billed green pigeons.., fire-backed and rufous-tailed pheasants.
1999 W. Just Dangerous Friend 119 She saw a fire-backed pheasant and a red junglefowl, all in the space of fifteen minutes.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
adj.1797