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heron

noun

  1. heraldic animal
L23511 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈhɛɹən/

name

Etymology: * As an English and French surname, from heron. * As an English surname, from Harome in Yorkshire, from Old English harum, dative plural of hær (“stone”) * As an Irish surname, from O'Heron, from Ó hUidhrín (literally “descendant of Uidhrín”), from odhar (“swarthy”). * As an Irish surname, from Ó hEaráin; see Haren. * As an Irish surname, from Mac Giolla Chiaráin (literally “son of the servant of Ciarán”); see Kieran.

  1. A surname.
  2. A census-designated place in Sanders County, Montana, United States.

noun

Etymology: From Middle English heron, heroun, heiron, from Anglo-Norman heiron, from Medieval Latin hairō, from Frankish and Proto-West Germanic *hraigrō, from Proto-Germanic *haigrô (compare Swedish häger and Danish hejre), dissimilation of *hraigrô (compare Old English hrāgra, Dutch reiger, German Reiher), from imitative Proto-Indo-European *(s)kreik-, *(s)kreig- (“to screech, creak”) (compare Welsh crëyr (“heron”), Ancient Greek κρίζω (krízō, “to creak, screech”). Compare also egret from the same Germanic etymon.

  1. Any long-legged, long-necked wading bird of the family Ardeidae.