pelican English · revision 1657

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈpɛl.ɪ.kən/, /ˈpɛl.ə.kən/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It comes from Old English ''pellican'',^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|la-lat|pelecanus]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|grc|πελεκάν|tr=pelekán]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) which is related to ''pélekys'' “axe”,^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) perhaps from the shape of the bird's bill.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) The spelling ''pelican'' was influenced by Old French ''pelican''.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The large fish-eating water bird with a pouched bill (Old English, c. 1000).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The Septuagint used the Greek word to translate a Hebrew bird name.^(Etymonline) The fable that the pelican feeds its young with its own blood is recorded in English by about 1200;^(Etymonline) the OED dates the reference to 1398.^(OED 1989) From it came the figurative application to Christ (1526)^(OED 1989) and the heraldic “pelican in her piety”.^(OED 1989) The bird's bill gave the name to a dentist's instrument for extracting teeth (1597)^(OED 1989) and an alembic with curved tubes (1559).^(OED 1989)^(RHWU) Louisiana has been called the Pelican State since at least 1856.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1000 – Old English ''pellican''.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1398 – the fable of feeding young with its own blood.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1559 – a kind of alembic.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1597 – a tooth-pulling instrument.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1856 – ''Pelican State'', Louisiana.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Any of various large web-footed water [[bird|alt=birds]] of warm regions, with a long bill from which hangs a [[pouch]] of skin for catching fish.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[retort]] or still with curved tubes leading from the head back into the body.^(RHWU)^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Pelican State]]

+ * [[brown pelican]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cormorant]]

+ * [[gannet]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}