wheatear

English

Etymology 1

Uncertain. Probably a back-formation from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English whit ers "white arse", after the prominent white rump of many species. Compare dialect forms white rump, white-tail. Possibly a compound of wheat +‎ ear or white +‎ ear. Attested since the seventeenth century as wheat-ears or wheatgear.

Noun

Northern wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe)

wheatear (plural wheatears)

1. Any of various passerine birds of the genus Oenanthe that feed on insects.
   • 1669, Edward Chamberlayne, Angliae Notitia; or, The Present State of England, London: T.N. for John Martyn, →OCLC, page 6:

     What abundance of Hens, Ducks, Geese, Turkeys, Pigeons, and Larks? [...] Maychit, Stint, Sea-Plover, Pewits, Redshanks, Rayles, and Wheat-ears, Herrons, Cranes, Bitterns, Bustards, Puffins, God-wits,

   • 1796, Tobias Smollett, The miscellaneous works of Tobias Smollett, M.D. With memoirs of his life and writings, Edinburgh: J. Mundell, →OCLC, page 21:

     great plenty of the birds so much admired at Tunbridge under the name of wheat-ears. By-the-bye, this is a pleasant corruption of white-a—se, the translation of the French name cul blanc, taken from their color; for they are actually white towards the tail.

Synonyms

• clodhopper, fallow-chat, fallow-smiter

Translations

various passerine birds

• Chechen: тӏулган гӏайренашкара хьоза (tʼulgan ğajrenaškara ḥʳoza)
• Czech: bělořit
• French: traquet (fr) m
• German: Steinschmätzer (de) m
• Irish: clochrán m
• Navajo: tsékʼi dǫ́ʼiiyiyiitsahí
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norman: blianche-coue f
• Polish: białorzytka (pl) f
• Russian: ка́менка (ru) f (kámenka)
• Scottish Gaelic: clacharan m (Oenanthe oenanthe)
• Spanish: collalba f

References

• Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.
• “wheatear”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Etymology 2

Compound of wheat +‎ ear

Noun

wheatear (plural wheatears)

1. An ear of wheat.
2. A decorative pattern resembling an ear of wheat.

Anagrams

• aweather, taraweeh