hoopoe

[ hoo-poo ]

/ ˈhu pu /

noun

any Old World bird of the family Upupidae, especially Upupa epops, of Europe, having an erectile, fanlike crest.

Nearby words

hoop-de-do, hoop-petticoat narcissus, hooper, hoopla, hoopman, hoopoe, hoopster, hoorah, hooray, hooray henry, hoorn

Origin of hoopoe

1660–70; variant of obsolete hoopoop (imitative); cognate with Low German huppup; compare Latin upupa

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

Examples from the Web for hoopoe

The hoopoe (Upupa) is probably still rarer, since very few travellers mention it.
The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 3. (of 7): Media|George Rawlinson
The cuckoo waited for a while for the hoopoe to return to him the tuft which he had lent her.
Rumanian Bird and Beast Stories|Anonymous
But, to describe the nesting operations of the hoopoe in January is like talking of cricket in April.
A Bird Calendar for Northern India|Douglas Dewar
The cuckoo had made it lie down by singing “coo, coo,” but the hoopoe made it jump up by singing “up, up.”
Rumanian Bird and Beast Stories|Anonymous

The two wives were changed at their own request to nightingale and swallow, and Tereus became a hoopoe.
The Works of Lucian of Samosata, v. 4|Lucian of Samosata

British Dictionary definitions for hoopoe

hoopoe

/ (ˈhuːpuː) /

noun

an Old World bird, Upupa epops, having a pinkish-brown plumage with black-and-white wings and an erectile crest: family Upupidae, order Coraciiformes (kingfishers, etc)

Word Origin for hoopoe

C17: from earlier hoopoop, of imitative origin; compare Latin upupa

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

Word Origin and History for hoopoe

hoopoe

1660s, from Latin upupa, imitative of its cry (cf. Greek epops "hoopoe").

If anybody smears himself with the blood of this bird on his way to bed, he will have nightmares about suffocating devils. [Cambridge bestiary, 12c.]