buzzard

buzzard¹ bird of prey

Etymology

The word for the bird is inherited from Middle English busard, also bosard,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French busart, also buisart,^{[5][6][3][7][8]} a variant of buson, buison,^[3][9][10] which most dictionaries derive from Latin būteō (“a kind of hawk”) (accusative būteōnem).^{[3][9][6][8][11]} The ending was taken as the suffix -ard, which often carried a disparaging sense.^[10][6][8] The OED notes the parallel Old Occitan buzart, Italian bozzago and French buse, and says that the usual derivation from the Latin, though commonly assumed, leaves the process of formation unclear.^[5][6] De Vaan, as quoted by Etymonline, takes būteō as probably imitating the call of a hawk,^[6] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged relates it to būbō (“horned owl”).^[10] The Anglo-Norman word is recorded from 1174–75 for the common buzzard, and as a surname.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

A bird of prey of the genus Buteo: about 1300, in Kyng Alisaunder.^[5][6] Barnhart dates the word to probably before 1300,^[3] and the Middle English Dictionary has a Latin form busardos in a record of 1272.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline describes the buzzard as a hawk not used in falconry,^[6] and the Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins says that being thought an inferior, useless hawk led to its use for a stupid or ignorant person;^[13] Johnson (1755) still defined it as a mean kind of hawk.^[14] The insult is recorded from 1377 in Langland's Piers Plowman, often as blind buzzard,^[5][15][2] and the Middle English Dictionary also has the saying "to make a falcon of a buzzard", for an impossible task.^[2] The phrase between hawk and buzzard is recorded from 1637.^[5] In America the name was given to vultures,^[6][5] by the 1830s in Etymonline.^[6] The OED, which calls it a U.S. use, has it from 1851.^[5] The force of the insult weakened, and old buzzard can mean little more than "old chap".^[13] An obsolete verb buzzard, perhaps "to puzzle", is recorded once, in 1624.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – a bird of prey of the genus Buteo.^[5][6]
• 1377 – a worthless, stupid or ignorant person, often blind buzzard.^[5][15]
• 1637 – between hawk and buzzard.^[5]
• 1851 – in the United States, the turkey vulture.^[5] Etymonline dates the American use to the 1830s.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (chiefly British) A hawk of the genus Buteo, with broad wings and a rounded tail, especially the common European species, Buteo buteo.^[16][10][11]
2. A New World vulture, especially the turkey vulture.^[10][17][5]
3. A mean, foolish or cantankerous person, often in old buzzard: The old buzzard wouldn't sell us the field.^[16][17][5]

Word family

• buzzardlike
• buzzardly
• honey buzzard
• turkey buzzard

buzzard² insect

Etymology tree of buzzard²

inherited borrowed derived

English buzz

English buzzard

From the same root · buzzard²

English buzzer ← buzz

Etymology

The word for the insect is formed from English buzz + -ard.^{[5][11][10][17][13]}

Earliest recorded meaning

An insect that flies at night, such as a moth or cockchafer: the Shorter Oxford dates this dialect word to the mid 17th century,^[11] and Dictionary.com to 1645–55.^[17] The OED's first quotation is from Thomas Hood in 1825, and it notes that certain earlier instances are lacking.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Wright's dialect dictionary records buzzard for a moth or butterfly from Cumberland, Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cheshire to Gloucestershire and Devon, and also, figuratively, for a short-sighted person.^[18] The OED also gives it for a steam signal that makes a loud buzzing noise, the sense of buzzer, from 1878.^[5]

Timeline

• mid 17th century – an insect flying at night, such as a moth or cockchafer.^[11] Dictionary.com dates it to 1645–55,^[17] the OED to 1825.^[5]
• 1878 – a buzzer, a steam signal.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dialect) A buzzing insect that flies at night, such as a moth or a cockchafer.^[10][11][5]