different between heron vs donkey

English

Etymology

From Middle English heron, heroun, heiron, from Anglo-Norman heiron, from Old Dutch *heigero (compare Middle Dutch heiger), from Frankish and Proto-West Germanic *hraigr?, from Proto-Germanic *haigrô (compare Swedish häger), dissimilation of *hraigrô (compare Old English hr?gra, Dutch reiger, German Reiher), from imitative Proto-Indo-European *(s)kreik-, *(s)kreig- (“to screech, creak”) (compare Welsh crëyr (“heron”), Ancient Greek ????? (kríz?, “to creak, screech”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?h???n/
• Rhymes: -???n

Noun

heron (plural herons)

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

Coordinate terms

• (a wading bird): egret, bittern, crane, heronsew, stork

Translations

Further reading

• heron on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Ardeidae on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Ardeidae on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Anagrams

• Honer, Horne, Rhone, Rhône, honer, horne, rhone

Middle English

Alternative forms

• hayroun, heyroun, heroun, herne, heiron, heyrune, heyrone, herowne, heern

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman heiron, from Medieval Latin hair?, *haigr?, from Old Dutch *heigero, from Frankish/Proto-West Germanic *hraigr?, from Proto-Germanic *haigrô, from earlier *hraigrô via dissimilation.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?h??run/, /?h??r(?)n/, /?h?i?run/, /h?i??ru?n/

Noun

heron (plural herons)

1. the grey heron (Ardea cinerea), or (rarely) a representation of it used in heraldry
2. the meat of a heron used as food.

Related terms

• heronsewe

Descendants

• English: heron, hern
• Scots: hern

References

• “heir?un, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-06.

Middle French

Alternative forms

• hairon

Etymology

From Old French heron, of Germanic origin, probably from Frankish *hraigr?.

Noun

heron m (plural herons)

1. heron

Descendants

• French: héron

English

Etymology

The origin is uncertain. Originally a slang term from the late eighteenth century. Perhaps from Middle English *donekie (“a miniature dun horse”), a double diminutive of Middle English don, dun, dunne (a name for a dun horse), equivalent to modern English dun (“brownish grey colour”) + -ock (diminutive suffix) + -ie (diminutive suffix). Compare Middle English donning (“a dun horse”), English dunnock.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?d??ki/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?d??ki/, /?d??ki/; (rare and nonstandard) /?d??ki/
• Rhymes: -??ki
• Hyphenation: don?key

Noun

donkey (plural donkeys)

1. A domestic animal, Equus asinus asinus, similar to a horse.
2. A stubborn person.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:stubborn person

3. A fool.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:fool

4. (nautical) A small auxiliary engine.

   Synonym: donkey engine

5. (naval slang, dated) A box or chest, especially a toolbox.
6. (poker slang) A bad poker player.

Hyponyms

• jack
• jackass
• jenny

Derived terms

Descendants

• ? Afrikaans: donkie
• ? Northern Sotho: tonki
• ? Tok Pisin: donki

Translations

See also

• ass
• mule
• hinny

Further reading

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “donkey”, in Online Etymology Dictionary
• “donkey” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.

References

• (box or chest): 1930, Naval Review (London) (volume 18, page 592)