tinamou

American  

[tin-uh-moo] / ˈtɪn əˌmu /

noun

1. any of several birds of the family Tinamidae, of South and Central America, related to the ratite birds but superficially resembling the gallinaceous birds.

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tinamou British  

/ ˈtɪnəˌmuː /

noun

1. any bird of the order Tinamiformes of Central and South America, having small wings, a heavy body, and an inconspicuous plumage

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Etymology

Origin of tinamou

First recorded in 1775–85; from French, from Galibi (a Carib language spoken in French Guiana) tinamu

Example Sentences

Colossal Biosciences would again edit the genes of a close living relative, such as the emu or tinamou, and call it a moa.

From Slate • Aug. 8, 2025

Animals such as the tinamou, a bird the local Indigenous people consider sacred, even scarcer.

From Washington Post • Feb. 18, 2023

His recordings of the unique, mournful song of the tinamou will form the baseline count for a long-running study that couldn’t have been done by mere observation.

From Washington Post • Jan. 10, 2020

But there is a striking exception: the eggs of the tinamou, a shy, ground-dwelling bird native to South and Central America.

From New York Times • Dec. 22, 2014

Another bird sure to interest the sportsman is the Patagonian prairie chicken known as the tinamou.

From The Gold Diggings of Cape Horn A Study of Life in Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia by Spears, John R.