different between merganser vs sheldrake

English

Etymology

From Late Latin merganser, from Latin mergus (“waterfowl, diver”), from merg? (“to dip, immerse”) + ?nser (“goose”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /m????ans?/
• Rhymes: -æns?(r)

Noun

merganser (plural mergansers)

1. Any of various diving ducks of the genera Mergus or Lophodytes, which feed on fish and have a sharply serrated bill.

Synonyms

• (Eurasian) goosander, Mergus merganser

Derived terms

• †Auckland merganser (also Auckland Islands merganser), Mergus australis (extinct)
• Brazilian merganser, Mergus octosetaceus
• common merganser, Mergus merganser
• hooded merganser, Lophodytes cucullatus
• red-breasted merganser, Mergus serrator
• scaly-sided merganser, Mergus squamatus
• typical merganser, Mergus

Translations

See also

• smew, Mergellus albellus (also sometimes Mergus albellus)
• Zwergsäger, Mergellus albellus

English

Etymology

From Middle English sheld- (“parti-colored”) (akin to Middle Dutch shillede) + drake (“male duck”).

Noun

sheldrake (plural sheldrakes)

1. An Old World duck of the genus Tadorna.
2. A merganser.
3. A male shelduck.
4. The call sign for an artillery officer.

References

• Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967