guillemot

[ gil-uh-mot ]

noun
  1. 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 Ocean and the similar C. columba(pigeon guillemot ) of the North Pacific Ocean.

  2. British. a murre of the genus Uria.

Origin of guillemot

1
First recorded in 1670–80; from French, apparently diminutive of Guillaume “William”

Words Nearby guillemot

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use guillemot in a sentence

  • This bird is very similar to the Black guillemot except that the under-surfaces of the wings are dark.

    Western Bird Guide | Chester A. (Chester Albert) Reed, Harry F. Harvey, and Rex I. Brasher
  • This bird is very similar to the Black guillemot except that the under surfaces of the wings are dark.

    The Bird Book | Chester A. Reed
  • A crest is never developed at the proximal end, like that seen in the guillemot and Diver and other water birds.

    Dragons of the Air | H. G. Seeley
  • The most curious were those of the guillemot, which, though little larger than the puffin, have eggs as large as those of geese.

  • And then they got a guillemot which had its nest close by to fly beside them, while they tried to outdistance it by rowing.

British Dictionary definitions for guillemot

guillemot

/ (ˈɡɪlɪˌmɒt) /


noun
  1. 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

Origin of guillemot

1
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