hirundine

[prettygoodword]

hirundine (hi-RUHN-din, hi-RUHN-deyen) - adj., of, pertaining to, or resembling a swallow.


As in the bird. Qualities of being a fast an acrobatic flying are generally involved, as might also not landing on the ground. In use since c. 1830, from Latin hirundō, a swallow.

---L.

Comments

[thistleingrey.livejournal.com]

OED3 (2004) is fairly clear about the dated citations for "oryzivorous," FWIW (and I never joined the comm, so I can't comment there)--

Etymology: < scientific Latin oryzivorus (1758 as a specific name; < classical Latin oryza rice (see oryzenin n.) + -vorus : see -vorous comb. form) + -ous suffix. Compare French oryzivore (1868 in Littré).

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

Which makes the uncertainty of some other dictionaries all the more puzzling.

---L.