▪ I. teal
(tiːl)
Forms: 4–6 tele, 5 teill, 5–6 teele, 6–7 teyle, teale, 7 teil, tayle, 8 teall, 7– teal.
[ME. tele, exemplified early in 14th c., but pointing to an unrecorded OE. tǽle, téle:—WGer. *taili. Du. has a deriv. form taling, teling masc., in Kilian teelingh, MDu. têling, teiling, MLG. têlink masc., teal. (Connexion with Du. teling fem., generation, LG. teling fem., brood, from Du., and LG. têlen to breed, is improbable.)]
1. a. A small fresh-water fowl, Querquedula or Anas crecca, or other species of the genus, the smallest of the ducks, widely distributed in Europe, Asia, and America; also locally applied to other genera of the Anatidæ. Also as collective pl.
| 1314 in Wardrobe Acc. Edw. II 21, 2 teles 3{supd}. c 1325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Wright Voc. 151 Turbe de cercels [gl. teles]. 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 563/45 Anacius, a tele. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 487/2 Tele, bryd, turcella, turbella. 1486 Bk. St. Albans d j, I haue seen them made sum to sle the pie sum to sle the Tele vppon the Reuer. 1530 Palsgr. 279/2 Teele a byrde, plignon. c 1532 G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. ibid. 912 The teyle, le cercelle. 1538 Elyot, Querquedula, a waterfowle callyd a teale. 1575 Turberv. Falconrie 191 Some water plashet or pitte where wylde fowle lye, as Teales or suche lyke. 1614 Markham Cheap Husb. vii. xviii. (1668) 123 So you may nourish Teils, Widgens, Sheldrakes or green Plovers. 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. 183 Teales and Widgins... Commonly they are very fat and sweet of taste. 1773 G. White Selborne xxxix. 99, I saw young teals taken alive in the ponds of Wolmer Forest. 1873 G. C. Davies Mountain & Mere ix. 70 A couple of teal came within shot. 1876 Smiles Sc. Natur. xiii. (ed. 4) 259 The Teal..and the Eider duck visit the loch occasionally in winter. |
b. The flesh of this bird as food.
| ? c 1475 Sqr. lowe Degre 320 With deynty meates that were dere,..The tele, the ducke and the drake. 1620 Venner Via Recta iii. 65 Teale..excelleth all other water⁓fowle. 1735 Sheridan in Swift Let. to Mrs. Whiteway 8 Nov., His teal was spoiled in the roasting. |
c. A shade of dark greenish blue resembling the patches of this colour on the head and wings of the teal.
| 1923 Daily Mail 14 Feb. 10 (Advt.), Jersey frocks... Colours: Teal, Purple and Champ. 1978 N.Y. Times 29 Mar. a 14 (Advt.), Both in a delicious new shade of teal{ddd}we call it Prussian blue! |
2. With distinctive prefixes, applied to various species of Querquedula and allied genera: as
American or green-winged teal, Q. carolinensis; Baikal or Japanese teal, Q. (Eunetta) formosa; blue-winged teal of N. and S. America, Q. discors or cyanoptera; Brazilian teal, Q. brasiliensis; Chilean Teal, Q. flavirostris; cinnamon or redbreasted teal, Q. cyanoptera; falcated teal, Q. falcata, of China; summer, cricket (see cricket n.1 3), or garganey teal, the garganey, Q. circia; also Chinese Teal, the mandarin duck, Aix galericulata; goose teal: see goose n. 8; salt-water or brown diving teal, the rudder-duck (G. Trumbull Game Birds 1888).
| 1678 Ray Willughby's Ornith. 378 Of the Summer-Teal, called by Gesner Ana circia. 1754 Catesby Carol. I. 99 The Blue-Wing Teal. 1785 Pennant Arct. Zool. II. 569 American Teal. 1785 Latham Gen. Syn. VI. 557 Baikal Teal. 1824 Stephens in Shaw's Gen. Zool. xii. ii. 143 Garganey Teal. Ibid. 153 Mexican Teal. 1837 Penny Cycl. IX. 181/2 The beautiful Anas (Boschas) formosa, Sw., or Baikal Teal of methodists. Ibid. 182/1 Such a species is actually the blue-winged Teal of North America. 1896 List Anim. Zool. Soc. 447 [Seven species named]. 1896 Newton Dict. Birds 949 In ordinary talk ‘Teal’ stands for any Duck-like bird of small size. Ibid., In the same loose sense the word is often applied to the two most beautiful of the Family Anatidæ, belonging to the genus æx..—the Carolina or Wood-Duck of North America, æ. sponsa.., and the Mandarin-Duck of China, æ. galericulata. |
3. attrib. and Comb., as teal-catcher, teal-duck, teal-flapper (flapper n.1 3), teal-shooting, teal-springing; teal blue, a shade of dark blue tinged with green (cf. sense 1 c above); teal-house = tealery (see below).
| 1668 Wilkins Real Char. ii. v. §4. 156 To the Teal-kind should be reduced that other fowl..called Gargane. 1845 Statist. Acc. Scot. XIV. 122 Teal-duck..are found here. 1874 J. W. Long Amer. Wild-fowl xv. 193 In no other branch of wild-fowling is a breech-loader of more advantage than in teal-shooting. 1888 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms iii. (1890) 16, I was off the old pony and into the water like a teal-flapper. 1902 T. W. Webber Forests Upper India xviii. 247 A..canoe..which belongs to the teal-catchers. Ibid., Most bungalows in Gorakhpur have a teal house..where teal are fattened. 1949 Dict. Colours Interior Decoration (Brit. Colour Council) III. 26/2 Teal blue, a descriptive colour name from the plumage of the small freshwater duck. 1963 New Yorker 1 June 75 Sandwich-board sheaths in teal-blue linen are piped down the sides with double rows of lime. 1980 M. H. Clark Cradle will Fall iv. 24 Her teal-blue uniform. |
Hence ˈtealery, a place in which teal are kept and fattened.
| 1890 Cornh. Mag. July 17 Here are..the cow-house, and the tealery, and the quailery. 1894 E. Braddon in Blackw. Mag. Sept. 387/2 The teal..kept and fattened in a tealery. |
▪ II. teal, tealer
see tele, til, till, tiller.