Dictionary

humbird en · NOUN

Etymology

From hum + bird.

Meanings

1. (obsolete) A hummingbird.
   • The Humbird is one of the vvonders of the Countrey, being no bigger than a Hornet, yet hath all the demenſions of a Bird, as bill, and vvings, vvith quills, ſpider-like legges, ſmall clavves: For colour, ſhe is as glorious as the Raine-bovv; as ſhe flies, ſhe makes a little humming noiſe like a Humble-bee: vvherefore ſhee is called the Humbird. 1634, William Wood, “Of the Birds and Fowles both of Land and Water”, in New Englands Prospect. A True, Lively, and Experimentall Description of that Part of America, Commonly Called New England; […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, for Iohn Bellamie, […], →OCLC, 1st part, page 28:

Forms