aasvogel

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See also: Aasvogel and Aasvögel

English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowing from Afrikaans aasvogel (“vulture”) (obsolete), from aas (“carrion”) + vogel (“bird”), from Dutch.[1][2]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

aasvogel (plural aasvogels)

  1. (South Africa, rare, literary) Vulture. [First attested in the mid 19th century.][1]
    • 1912, H. Rider Haggard, Marie:
      As the charge exploded I saw the aasvogel give a kind of backward twist.

Usage notes[edit]

This word has no currency in modern South African English. It has been used by writers Rider Haggard and Saki to lend colour and authenticity to their works.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 “aasvogel” in Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief; William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors, The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 2002, ISBN 978-0-19-860457-0, page 2.
  2. ^ Philip Babcock Gove (editor), Webster's Third International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged (G. & C. Merriam Co., 1976 [1909], ISBN 0-87779-101-5), page 3

Dutch[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From aas (“carrion”) +‎ vogel (“bird”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

aasvogel m (plural aasvogels or aasvogelen, diminutive aasvogeltje n)

  1. bird feeding on carrion, vulture
  2. (figuratively) vulture, a person who profits from the suffering of others

Descendants[edit]

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