bittern

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Related to bittern: bitten, American bittern, least bittern

bit·tern¹

(bĭt′ərn)

Any of several wading birds of the genera Botaurus and Ixobrychus, having mottled brownish plumage and, in most species, a deep booming cry in the male.

[Alteration (perhaps influenced by tern) of Middle English bitour, from Old French butor, possibly from Vulgar Latin *buti-taurus : Latin būtiō, buzzard + Latin taurus, bull (after its cry); see tauro- in Indo-European roots.]

bit·tern²

(bĭt′ərn)

The bitter water solution of bromides, magnesium, and calcium salts remaining after sodium chloride is crystallized out of seawater.

[From bitter.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

bittern

(ˈbɪtən)

(Animals) any wading bird of the genera Ixobrychus and Botaurus, related and similar to the herons but with shorter legs and neck, a stouter body, and a booming call: family Ardeidae, order Ciconiiformes

[C14: from Old French butor, perhaps from Latin būtiō bittern + taurus bull; referring to its cry]

bittern

(ˈbɪtən)

(Chemistry) the bitter liquid remaining after common salt has been crystallized out of sea water: a source of magnesium, bromine, and iodine compounds

[C17: variant of bittering]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

bit•tern¹

(ˈbɪt ərn)

n.

any of several brown-and-buff wading birds of the heron family, inhabiting reedy marshes in both the Old and New Worlds.

[1510–20; earlier bitter, bittor, Middle English bito(u)r < Anglo-French bytore, Anglo-French, Old French butor < Vulgar Latin *būtitaurus]

bit•tern²

(ˈbɪt ərn)

n.

a bitter solution remaining in saltmaking after the salt has crystallized out of seawater or brine, used as a source of bromides, iodides, and certain other salts.

[1675–85; variant of bittering]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun

bittern - relatively small compact tawny-brown heron with nocturnal habits and a booming cry; found in marshes

heron - grey or white wading bird with long neck and long legs and (usually) long bill

American bittern, Botaurus lentiginosus, stake driver - a kind of bittern

Botaurus stellaris, European bittern - a kind of bittern

Ixobrychus exilis, least bittern - small American bittern

bittern

noun

Related words
collective noun sedge or siege

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

bukač

Rohrdommel

botaŭro

avetoro

kaulushaikaranokihaikarapikkuhaikara

bölömbika

bukač

bittern

[ˈbɪtɜːn] N → avetoro m (común)

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

bittern

n → Rohrdommel f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

bittern

[ˈbɪtɜːn] n → tarabuso

References in classic literature ?

When they went once more into the long hall with the windows and the mirrors, yellow evening was dropping over the waters and the willowy banks; and a bittern sounded in the distance like an elf upon his dwarfish drum.

The sunset gold still glowed on the lawn, and the bittern still boomed as announcing some small but dreadful destiny.

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It was a common sound in those parts--as common as the chatter of the jays and the booming of the bittern. Yet the fishers and the peasants raised their heads and looked questions at each other, for the angelus had already gone and vespers was still far off.

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We need the tonic of wildness -- to wade sometimes in marshes where the bittern and the meadow-hen lurk, and hear the booming of the snipe; to smell the whispering sedge where only some wilder and more solitary fowl builds her nest, and the mink crawls with its belly close to the ground.

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Fox and woodchuck, hawk and snipe and bittern, when nearly seen, have no more root in the deep world than man, and are just such superficial tenants of the globe.

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Yes, I should not be surprised to learn that what we have heard is the cry of the last of the bitterns."

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It is in this way that small knots of trappers and hunters are distributed about the wilderness by the fur companies, and like cranes and bitterns, haunt its solitary streams.

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There's been some incredibly rare birds seen on the reserve (often county firsts) including squacco heron, black-winged prattincole and more recently a little bittern, a species which had not been seen locally for more than 150 years.

YOUR VIEW; Today it is the turn of Craig McNeil visitor experience officer RSPB Saltholme

Here are a few: The bittern in Welsh is "aderyn y bwn".

Nature's bounty in mellifluous Welsh

The 52-year-old tumbled down stairs outside the Bittern Pub in Southampton, Hampshire following a serious assault.

Man dies after crashing down stairs during Bank Holiday pub attack; Perry Cardy died following a violent incident outside the Bittern Pub in Southampton, Hampshire

Bittern House, Ochre Yards, Gateshead, is available for rent through Sanderson Young for PS995 pcm, tel: 0191 213 2533 for further information.

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