emu
[ee-myoo]
|
noun
a large, flightless, ratite bird, Emu (Dromaius) novaehollandiae, of Australia, resembling the ostrich but smaller and having a feathered head and neck and rudimentary wings.
Origin of emu
1605–15; earlier emeu (in earliest E source emia, eme), ultimately < Portuguese ema, attested in 1541 as a name for the cassowary (further origin obscure); the replacement of -a by -eu, etc., is unexplained
EMU
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for emu
Contemporary Examples of emu
Gordon Brown, too, resisted the siren calls of the Europhiles in his own party to take Britain into the EMU.
Historical Examples of emu
Tommy also shot an emu that came to water, and which we carried to camp.
Explorations in AustraliaJohn Forrest
They had collected some of the emu feathers, which were lying all about.
Explorations in AustraliaJohn Forrest
Of the thirty species of grallatores the most remarkable is the emu.
Can it be the Emu engaged with a man-of-war, by any possibility?
Mark SeaworthWilliam H.G. Kingston
We could here gain no intelligence of the Emu, so we again sailed.
Mark SeaworthWilliam H.G. Kingston
emu
noun
Word Origin for emu
C17: changed from Portuguese ema ostrich, from Arabic Na-`amah ostrich
EMU
abbreviation for
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
EMU
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
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