avian
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of avian
Explanation
Anything avian relates to birds. Avian flu is the bird flu, which birds can pass to humans. Someone who flies a plane is an aviator, and that may help you remember that avian things have to do with birds. Feathers are part of avian anatomy. Laying eggs is the avian method of reproduction. Bird-watchers are avian experts who know how to tell birds apart. Ornithologists are also avian experts: they’re scientists who study birds.
Vocabulary lists containing avian
Words of a Feather: Unflappable Avian Vocabulary
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More Animal Adjectives
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This Week in Words: August 25 - 31, 2018
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The traditional method of creating flu vaccines involves growing the virus in eggs - but this can be a problem when there are virulent avian flu strains which can kill the eggs used during manufacturing.
From BBC • Apr. 21, 2026
Starting Thursday afternoon and lasting throughout the night, chirps could be heard coming from one of the avian couple’s two eggs, perched high in a Jeffrey pine overlooking Big Bear Lake.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026
What has helped is that the threat of highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu, has faded.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 1, 2026
Last year around the same time, supply disruptions—caused in part by avian flu—had driven egg prices to record high.
From Barron's • Apr. 1, 2026
They cut apart birds to trace the structure of the avian skeleton, and, masked in leather hoods, they dissected a skunk.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
