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pigeon

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Pigeon

English

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A speckled pigeon (Columba guinea; sense 1)
A flock of feral pigeons eating seeds scattered on a patch of dirt
A flock of pigeons eating seeds

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Etymology tree
Latin pīpiō
Proto-Indo-European *-h₃onh₂der.
Latin -ō
Latin pipio
Old French pyjonbor.
Middle English pygeoun
English pigeon

    Inherited from Middle English pygeoun, borrowed from Old French pyjon, inherited from Late Latin pīpiōnem (“chirping bird”), derived from Latin pīpiāre (“to chirp”), of imitative origin. Partly displaced native English dove.

    Alternative forms

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    Noun

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    pigeon (countable and uncountable, plural pigeons)

    2. (countable) One of several birds of the family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes.
      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:columbid
    3. (uncountable) The meat from this bird.
    4. (countable, Canada, US, informal) A person who is a target or victim of a confidence game.
      Synonyms: dupe, fish, sucker; see also Thesaurus:dupe
    5. (countable, politics) A pacifist, appeaser, an isolationist, a dove.
    6. (countable) A person hired to transport film footage out of a region where transport options are limited.
      • 1989, Whitman Bassow, The Moscow Correspondents, page 214:
        Kalb rushed to the airport and found a "pigeon" to take out the film: an American woman headed for London.
      • 2021, Hilary Brown, War Tourist: Memoirs of a Foreign Correspondent:
        At this point, all the commercial airports in Pakistan were closed. The only way to get film out was over land. John promptly hired me to be what was then known in the business as a "Pigeon," and installed me in a comfortable room in his hotel. […] I would then hand-carry his film out of the country, via Peshawar, the Khyber Pass, through the Kabul Gorge, and up to Kabul, Afghanistan, where I would meet a BBC courier and transfer the film bag.
    7. (countable, Australia, military slang) A weak or useless person.
    Derived terms
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    species of birds with names derived from pigeon other than domestic pigeon: Columba livia domestica
    pigeon breed names and breeding terms derived from 'pigeon' applied to Columba livia domestica
    Translations
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    Verb

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    pigeon (third-person singular simple present pigeons, present participle pigeoning, simple past and past participle pigeoned)

    1. (transitive) To deceive with a confidence game.

    See also

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    Etymology 2

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    From pidgin English, from a Chinese Pidgin English pronunciation of English business during trade in the Far East. See pidgin.

    Noun

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    pigeon (countable and uncountable, plural pigeons)

    1. (archaic, idiomatic, UK, informal) Concern or responsibility.
      It's their pigeon.

    References

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    Further reading

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    French

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    Etymology

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    Etymology tree
    Latin pīpiō
    Proto-Indo-European *-h₃onh₂der.
    Latin -ō
    Latin pipio
    Old French pyjon
    French pigeon

      Inherited from Old French pyjon, from Late Latin pīpiōnem (“chirping bird”), from Latin pīpiāre (“to chirp”).

      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      pigeon m (plural pigeons, feminine pigeonne)

      1. pigeon
        Synonyms: colombe, columbidé
      2. (colloquial) patsy (an easily trickable, naive person)
        Synonym: lampiste

      Derived terms

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      Descendants

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      • → Russian: пижо́н (pižón)
      • → Ukrainian: піжо́н (pižón)

      See also

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      Further reading

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      Anagrams

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      Norman

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      Etymology

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        Inherited from Old French pyjon, from Late Latin pīpiōnem (“chirping bird”), from Latin pīpiāre (“to chirp”).

        Noun

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        pigeon m (plural pigeons)

        1. (Jersey) pigeon

        Derived terms

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