jacamar

[ jak-uh-mahr ]

noun
  1. any tropical American bird of the family Galbulidae, having a long bill and usually metallic green plumage above.

Origin of jacamar

1
1640–50; <French <Tupi jacamáciri

Words Nearby jacamar

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

How to use jacamar in a sentence

  • There are four species of jacamar in Demerara; they are all beautiful; the largest, rich and superb in the extreme.

    Wanderings in South America | Charles Waterton
  • The road was as deserted as all that part of the jacamar Wood which lay between the Mercy and the lake.

    The Secret of the Island | W.H.G. Kingston (translation from Jules Verne)
  • At one point, I recollect, a gold-green jacamar sat on a log and looked at me till I was within five yards of her.

    At Last | Charles Kingsley
  • A bird called jacamar is often taken for a kingfisher, but it has no relationship to that tribe.

    Wanderings in South America | Charles Waterton
  • The large jacamar is pretty common about two hundred miles up the River Demerara.

    Wanderings in South America | Charles Waterton

British Dictionary definitions for jacamar

jacamar

/ (ˈdʒækəˌmɑː) /


noun
  1. any bird of the tropical American family Galbulidae, having an iridescent plumage and feeding on insects: order Piciformes (woodpeckers, etc)

Origin of jacamar

1
C19: from French, from Tupi jacamá-ciri

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