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hoat·zin

(wät-sēn)

A crested bird (Opisthocomus hoazin) of tropical South America having brown and buff plumage and a blue face. Juveniles have claws on the first and second digits of the wings.

[From French and New Latin hoazin, hoatzin, name given to the species by 18th-century European naturalists, from earlier Latin American Spanish hoazin, huactzin, the laughing falcon (Herpetotheres cachinnans), a falcon of Mexico and Central and South America known for its distinctive calls (the hoatzin and the laughing falcon perhaps being confused by European naturalists because they are both raucously noisy birds), from Nahuatl huāctzin : huāc-, perhaps of onomatopoeic origin (imitative of the laughing falcon's calls) + -tzin, diminutive and honorific noun suffix.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

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The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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