black guillemot

noun

Origin of black guillemot

First recorded in 1760–70

guillemot

[gil-uh-mot]

noun

a black or brown-speckled seabird of the genus Cepphus, of northern seas, having a sharply pointed black bill, red legs, and white wing patches, as C. grylle (black guillemot), of the North Atlantic and the similar C. columba (pigeon guillemot) of the North Pacific.

British. a murre of the genus Uria.

Origin of guillemot

1670–80; < French, apparently diminutive of Guillaume William

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for black guillemot

black guillemot

noun

a common guillemot, Cepphus grylle : its summer plumage is black with white wing patches and its winter plumage white with greyish wings

guillemot

noun

any northern oceanic diving bird of the genera Uria and Cepphus, having a black-and-white plumage and long narrow bill: family Alcidae (auks, etc), order Charadriiformes

Word Origin for guillemot

C17: from French, diminutive of Guillaume William

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012