acauã

English

Etymology

From Portuguese acauã.

Noun

acauã (plural acauãs)

1. The laughing falcon, Herpetotheres cachinnans, native to northern South America.
   • 1984, Mario Vargas Llosa, translated by Helen R. Lane, The War of the End of the World, Folio Society, published 2012, page 20:

     There were so many of them that there were not enough acauãs to finish them off, and in those topsy-turvy days it was not a rare sight to see serpents devouring that predatory bird rather than, as in days gone by, the acauã taking wing with its snake prey in its mouth.

   • 2000, José de Alencar, translated by Clifford E. Landers, Iracema:

     “The Pitiguara chieftain is brave and bold: Irapuã is cunning and treacherous like the acauã.”

   • 2004, Nicholas Gabriel Arons, Waiting for Rain, page 5:

     The eggs of the female acauã serve as an antidote to venomous snakebites.