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ossifrage

[ os-uh-frij ]
/ ˈɒs ə frɪdʒ /
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noun
the lammergeier.
Archaic. the osprey.
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Origin of ossifrage

1595–1605; <Latin ossifraga sea eagle, literally, bone-breaker (noun use of feminine of ossifragus bone-breaking), equivalent to ossi- (combining form of os) bone + frag-, variant stem of frangere to break + -a nominative singular feminine noun and adj. ending

Words nearby ossifrage

Ossie, Ossietzky, ossiferous, ossification, ossified, ossifrage, ossify, Ossining, osso bucco, ossobuco, ossuarium
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use ossifrage in a sentence

  • These are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray.

    Bible Animals;|J. G. Wood

  • These are they of which ye shall not eat; the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the osprey.

    Bible Animals;|J. G. Wood

  • The word is said to be a corruption of Ossifrage, the "bone-breaker."

    An Australian Bird Book|John Albert Leach

British Dictionary definitions for ossifrage

ossifrage
/ (ˈɒsɪfrɪdʒ, -ˌfreɪdʒ) /
noun
an archaic name for lammergeier, osprey (def. 1)

Word Origin for ossifrage

C17: from Latin ossifraga sea eagle; see osprey
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
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