rittock
/ˈrɪtək/(also rittag, ruttok) Chiefly Scottish (Caithness, Orkney, and Shetland )
noun
A tern or small gull.
- The species commonly referred to are the common and Arctic terns (Sterna hirundo and S. paradisaea), the black-headed gull (Larus ridibundus), and the kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla)..
Origin
Late 18th century; earliest use found in George Low (1747–1795), naturalist. Probably from the unattested Norn cognate of Old Icelandic rytr kind of gull, Icelandic ryta kittiwake, Faroese ryta kittiwake (from an ablaut variant (zero-grade) of the same Scandinavian base as Old Icelandic rauta, probably originally descriptive of the bird's cry) + -ock.