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• heron
  heron

  noun

  any of numerous long-legged, long-necked, usually long-billed birds of the family Ardeidae, including the true herons, egrets, night herons, and bitterns.
• Heron
  Heron

  noun

  Hero.

heron

¹ American  

[her-uhn] / ˈhɛr ən /

noun

• herons
  plural

1. any of numerous long-legged, long-necked, usually long-billed birds of the family Ardeidae, including the true herons, egrets, night herons, and bitterns.

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Heron ² American  

[heer-on] / ˈhɪər ɒn /

noun

1. Hero.

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Heron ¹ British  

/ ˈhɪərɒn /

noun

1. same as Hero

2. Patrick. 1920–99, British abstract painter and art critic

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heron ² British  

/ ˈhɛrən /

noun

1. any of various wading birds of the genera Butorides, Ardea, etc, having a long neck, slim body, and a plumage that is commonly grey or white: family Ardeidae, order Ciconiiformes

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• herons
  plural

Etymology

Origin of heron

1275–1325; Middle English heiro ( u ) n, hero ( u ) n < Middle French hairon ( French héron ) < Germanic; compare Old High German heigir

Explanation

Herons are birds that use their long legs to wade in marshes, ponds, and along the coastline. There are herons living on every single continent except Antarctica. There are dozens of heron species, ranging from medium-sized to the impressive goliath heron, which stands five feet tall. All of these shorebirds have long legs, long necks, and a wide wingspan. When a heron stands upright, it holds its neck in a distinctive S-shape, but when it flies, it tucks its head tightly up against its body. Heron is from the Old French hairon, which may derive from an imitative root mimicking the cry of a heron.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

heron Heron herons

A barrage of newly concocted action sequences in the second half makes the pacing so off-balance that the film feels like a heron trying to fly with one blinged-out wing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

One morning, I spend 20 minutes watching a 4-foot-tall great blue heron as it stalks fish along a pond’s edge.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

This comes as conservationists at the estate introduced new freshwater habitats, providing a refuge for the heron, but also water voles, otters, pine martens, and even white-tailed eagles.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

"Look at the length of the skull, the length of the neck, and the length of the hind limb -- you're in heron territory."

From Barron's ● Feb. 27, 2026

The serving men brought out a heron stuffed with figs, veal cutlets blanched with almond milk, creamed herring, candied onions, foul-smelling cheeses, plates of snails and sweetbreads, and a black swan in her plumage.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

The initial location will be Heron House in central Manchester, in the same building which houses offices for the intelligence service GCHQ.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

This time, she’s named Faye Heron, an Emmy-winning Hollywood multi-hyph who found cachet while working on one of those edgy premium dramedies that probably aired on HBO.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

Heron founder Drew Baglino was a top executive at Tesla before starting the company.

From Barron's ● Jun. 4, 2026

Several other firms have introduced their own private-credit indexes during the past few months, including Nasdaq, wealth adviser Heron Finance, and research provider Morningstar.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 24, 2026

Lifeguards at Heron Hills, where the young men were working this summer, said of Mr. Halloway, “he was too nice sometimes” and “too good to be true.”

From "Adrift" by Paul Griffin

The animal, named Kank australis, appears to have been a fish hunter whose feeding habits may have resembled those of modern herons.

From Science Daily ● May 29, 2026

In Vietnam, herons cast twigs in ponds like fly-fishermen to lure prey.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

More than a hundred bird species, including ducks, geese, terns, ibis, herons, eagles and vultures, had been recorded in the area, alongside monkeys and small mammals.

From Barron's ● Feb. 19, 2026

You’ll see egrets and herons in the tidal wetlands of the Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge and perhaps even snowy plovers nestling in the dunes or pecking for insects in the wet sand.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2024

But sometimes it has nothing to do with cold winters or cats or herons.

From "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon