Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A genus of extinct large flightless birds native to Madagascar.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A genus of gigantic fossil birds found in Madagascar.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A gigantic (to 9 ft.) extinct flightless bird, of which fossils were found in Madagascar.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun huge (to 9 ft.) extinct flightless bird of Madagascar
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[New Latin Aepyornīs, genus name : Greek aipus, high + Greek ornīs, bird; see or- in Indo-European roots.]
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Examples
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"Not bad, " he told his companions as he masticated fresh rolls with jam and butter, aepyornis egg, bacon, and fruit.
Into the Thinking Kingdoms Foster, Alan Dean, 1946- 1999
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"Not bad, " he told his companions as he masticated fresh rolls with jam and butter, aepyornis egg, bacon, and fruit.
Into the Thinking Kingdoms Foster, Alan Dean, 1946- 1999
reesetee commented on the word aepyornis
Also called elephant birds, aepyornis were an extinct family of flightless birds comprising the genera Aepyornis and Mullerornis.
March 4, 2008