garganey

gar·ga·ney

G0044700 (gär′gə-nē) n. pl. gar·ga·neys A small migratory duck (Anas querquedula) that breeds in Eurasia and has a white stripe over each eye.

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[Popularized as a name for the species after being mentioned by Conrad Gesner in his Historiae Animalium, from Lombard (dialect of the Swiss canton of Ticino) gargenei, a diminutive formation (probably making reference to its feeding by skimming rather than dabbling or to the male's distinctive rattling call like a guiro or washboard) akin to Italian garganella in bere a garganella, to take a continuous drink by holding a bottle high and pouring it into the mouth, and Old Italian garganello, throat, both probably ultimately from dissimilation of earlier *gargalella, diminutive of *gargala, throat, from Late Latin gargala, trachea, from a root *garg-, throat, imitative of gargling (compare Greek gargareōn, uvula, trachea).]

garganey

(ˈɡɑːɡənɪ) n (Animals) a small Eurasian duck, Anas querquedula, closely related to the mallard. The male has a white stripe over each eye[C17: from Italian dialect garganei, of imitative origin]

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

garganey - small Eurasian teal Anas querquedulateal - any of various small short-necked dabbling river ducks of Europe and America