Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In Tasmania, a kind of goatsucker, Podargus cuvieri.
- noun In New Zealand, a kind of owl, Sceloglaux noræ-zelandiæ.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) The Australian crested goatsucker (
Ægotheles Novæ-Hollandiæ ). Also applied to other allied birds, asPodargus Cuveiri .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun An
owl of the genusNinox inhabitingNew Zealand andAustralia .
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word morepork.
Examples
-
One night we saw a morepork, which is a type of owl that got its name from its habit of continually calling for additional pigflesh.
Last Chance to See Adams, Douglas, 1952- 1990
-
When the large and splendidly-built city of Dunedin, Otago, was a barren bush, haunted only by the "morepork" and the apteryx, Russell was humming with vitality, her harbour busy with fleets of ships, principally whalers, who found it the most convenient calling-place in the southern temperate zone.
The Cruise of the Cachalot Round the World After Sperm Whales Frank T. Bullen 1886
-
The silence of night was only interrupted by the cries of the "morepork" in the minor key, like the mournful cuckoos of Europe.
-
She took the morepork to the vet, who took care of it for a few days and then released it back into the wild, so the story had a happy ending.
NZ has cool birds too StyleyGeek 2007
-
One of my friends, who lives up on a hill surrounded by bush, went out to get her newspaper one morning and found it, as usual, lying rolled up on the path up to the house, and next to it was a stunned morepork.
NZ has cool birds too StyleyGeek 2007
-
I don't think he was aiming for the morepork, though.
NZ has cool birds too StyleyGeek 2007
-
The silence of night was only interrupted by the cries of the “morepork” in the minor key, like the mournful cuckoos of Europe.
-
There are many words found only in New Zealand English ( 'marae', 'morepork'), while other words ( 'mainland', 'mufti') have acquired individual meanings here which are either additional to or substitutions for those used in general English.
Book & Print in New Zealand: A Guide to Print Culture in New Zealand Penny Griffith 1885
-
And then simultaneously arose all the choral songs of the wilderness, -- creatures whose voices are heard at night, -- the loud whir of the locusts, the musical boom of the bullfrog, the cuckoo note of the morepork, and, mournful amidst all those merrier sounds, the hoot of the owl, through the wizard she-oaks and the pale green of the gum-trees.
A Strange Story — Volume 07 Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton 1838
-
And then simultaneously arose all the choral songs of the wilderness, -- creatures whose voices are heard at night, -- the loud whir of the locusts, the musical boom of the bullfrog, the cuckoo note of the morepork, and, mournful amidst all those merrier sounds, the hoot of the owl, through the wizard she-oaks and the pale green of the gum-trees.
A Strange Story — Complete Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton 1838
reesetee commented on the word morepork
An Australian crested nightjar, so named because of its cry.
February 14, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word morepork
You are kidding me.
No... wait... the OED sez:
Originally and chiefly: the boobook owl, Ninox novaeseelandiae. Also (Austral.) any of several other nocturnal birds, esp. the tawny frogmouth, Podargus strigoides.
And, let's not forget:
colloq. Austral. A stupid or tiresome person (freq. as a term of abuse).
You, you morepork, you! You darned morepork frogmouth!
February 14, 2007
reesetee commented on the word morepork
Now, would I kid you?
I'd dearly love to hear this bird some day; wouldn't you? Meantime, we can call each other morepork ad nauseum. Not to mention goatsucker.
February 14, 2007
pamelad commented on the word morepork
Never, ever heard anyone in Australia call anyone a morepork, so as far as this being a term of abuse someone's kidding someone. Here's a poem that mentions mopokes.
http://www.middlemiss.org/lit/authors/denniscj/bookforkids/hist.html
February 14, 2007
reesetee commented on the word morepork
Thanks, pamelad. It's still fun to say, if you ask me. :-)
February 14, 2007
oroboros commented on the word morepork
Here's a bird that probably could call 'morepork', judging by the repertoire of crazy warbles I've heard. Check out lyrebird.
February 14, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word morepork
Pamelad, I thought the same thing. Stupid OED, what do they know about Australians anyway... Maybe it's historical or something--or else the OED people were frequently called moreporks and then told that it was a common term in Australia, jokingly, and didn't get it. ;)
February 14, 2007
uselessness commented on the word morepork
According to the OED, Australia is entirely peopled with criminals!
February 14, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word morepork
Smell that? Iocaine powder!
February 14, 2007
uselessness commented on the word morepork
I smell nothing.
February 14, 2007
seanahan commented on the word morepork
inconceivable!
February 15, 2007
reesetee commented on the word morepork
Oroboros, you're right. That lyrebird is one crazy avian. I can't stop watching that clip from the Attenborough series--even bought the DVD set in part because of it. A chainsaw, for crying out loud!
February 15, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word morepork
Seanahan... You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
;)
February 15, 2007
uselessness commented on the word morepork
What does it mean? I'll go look it up, and see which of you is right... and which of you is dead.
February 15, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word morepork
Never get involved in a land war in Asia, uselessness. And never go in against a wordie when definitions are on the line. A-HAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHA! HA HA H--
February 17, 2007
uselessness commented on the word morepork
As you wish.
February 17, 2007
reesetee commented on the word morepork
Damn, I have to watch that movie again!
February 17, 2007
uselessness commented on the word morepork
What movie? Did I miss something?
February 17, 2007
seanahan commented on the word morepork
Only the best movie ever, "The Princess Bride".
February 17, 2007
uselessness commented on the word morepork
Oh, never heard of it. Is it good?
February 17, 2007
abraxaszugzwang commented on the word morepork
ahem. uselessness . . . you . . . you ARE a nerd, right?
February 17, 2007
uselessness commented on the word morepork
Dude. Read my comments.
February 17, 2007
abraxaszugzwang commented on the word morepork
phew.
February 17, 2007
uselessness commented on the word morepork
You mean you're still trying to win? I think that's the worst thing I've ever heard.
February 17, 2007
reesetee commented on the word morepork
Yep. Definitely gonna watch that movie again. Whatever it's called. ;-)
February 17, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word morepork
You're sick, I'll humor you.
uselessness, you don't happen to have six fingers on your right hand, do you?
February 18, 2007
uselessness commented on the word morepork
Do you always begin conversations this way?
Surrender!
February 18, 2007
bilby commented on the word morepork
This is the way it seems to me:
morepork (NZ) = ruru (NZ) = boobook (Australia) = mopoke (Europe) = the bird Ninox novaeseelandiae and its cousin in Europe.
I have never heard morepork used in Australia for birds or idiots. We have plenty of other colourful terms for idiots :-)
December 31, 2007
reesetee commented on the word morepork
I eagerly await your list of Australian terms for idiots. :-D
Oh, and birds, too.
January 1, 2008
yarb commented on the word morepork
There's a wind on the eastern side.
Ghost Gums dance in the moonlit night.
Mopoke mourns the racketeers.
- Midnight Oil, Outside World
June 11, 2008
ruzuzu commented on the word morepork
Bilby, could you put brackets around ruru?
January 5, 2011
bilby commented on the word morepork
Done, mlady.
January 5, 2011
knitandpurl commented on the word morepork
"I remember what Aroha said about the kehua, the spirits of the homeless dead, and how they like to inhabit animals and birds: the screech of the morepork bird in the velvety Maori night is a case in point."
Kehua! by Fay Weldon, p 40
October 27, 2013