bittern
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English[edit]

(Botaurus stellaris)

(Ixobrychus minutus)
Pronunciation[edit]
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈbɪtən/
Audio (UK) (file) - Homophones: bitten, Bitterne
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈbɪtəɹn/
- Rhymes: -ɪtə(ɹ)n
Etymology 1[edit]
From Middle English bitour, botor, from Old French butor, from Gallo-Roman *butitaurus, a blend of Latin būtiō (“bittern”) and taurus (“bull, ox”).
Noun[edit]
bittern (plural bitterns)
- Several bird species in the Botaurinae subfamily of the heron family Ardeidae.
- 1819, Washington Irving, The Sketch Book, Rip Van Winkle:
- It is a great rock or cliff on the loneliest part of the mountains, and […] is known by the name of the Garden Rock. Near the foot of it is a small lake, the haunt of the solitary bittern, with water-snakes basking in the sun on the leaves of the pond-lilies which lie on the surface.
Derived terms[edit]
terms derived from bittern (bird)
- forest bittern, Zonerodius heliosylus
- Eurasian bittern, Botaurus stellaris
- Australasian bittern, Botaurus poiciloptilus
- American bittern, Botaurus lentiginosus
- pinnated bittern, Botaurus pinnatus
- stripe-backed bittern, Ixobrychus involucris
- least bittern, Ixobrychus exilis
- little bittern, Ixobrychus minutus
- New Zealand bittern, Ixobrychus novaezelandiae
- yellow bittern, Ixobrychus sinensis
- Von Schrenck's bittern, Ixobrychus eurhythmus
- cinnamon bittern, Ixobrychus cinnamomeus
- dwarf bittern, Ixobrychus sturmii
- black bittern, Dupetor flavicollis
- common bittern
- sun bittern, sun-bittern
Translations[edit]
bird of the subfamily Botaurinae
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See also[edit]
Etymology 2[edit]
From bitter with an unclear suffix, perhaps a dialect form of -ing.
Noun[edit]
bittern (uncountable)
- The liquor remaining after halite (common salt) has been harvested from saline water (brine).
- The saline substance added to soy milk to coagulate it as a primary step in the production of tofu.
- 2019, “The Secrets of Tofu across Japan”, in Seasoning the Seasons[1], NHK World-Japan:
- Now we add the bittern.
- (archaic) A very bitter compound of quassia, cocculus indicus, etc., used by fraudulent brewers in adulterating beer.
Translations[edit]
salt substance used in tofu
Anagrams[edit]
Categories:
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English terms with homophones
- Rhymes:English/ɪtə(ɹ)n
- Rhymes:English/ɪtə(ɹ)n/2 syllables
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- English uncountable nouns
- English terms with archaic senses
- en:Herons