touraco

Or tu·ra·co

[toor-uh-koh]

noun

plural

touracos 

1. any of several large, brightly colored birds of the family Musophagidae, of Africa, having a helmetlike crest.

touraco

/ ˈtʊərəˌkəʊ /

noun

1. any brightly coloured crested arboreal African bird of the family Musophagidae: order Cuculiformes (cuckoos, etc)

Word History and Origins

Origin of touraco¹

First recorded in 1735–45; from French touraco or Dutch toerako; further origin uncertain

Word History and Origins

Origin of touraco¹

C18: of West African origin

Example Sentences

Beautifully coloured are the green touraco and the purple plantain-eater, a rascally bird! who eats some of our finest plantains, and has bitten holes in many a one I thought to get entirely to myself.

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These ladies seem to have chosen for their model the touraco or cockatoo,—they have never heard of "Kikeriki,"—and the effect is at first wondrously grotesque.

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