gare-fowl
(ˈgɛəfaʊl)
Also 7, 9 gairfowl.
[ad. ON. geir-fugl = Faroese gorfuglur, Sw. garfogel, Da. (from Icel.) geirfugl. Hence also Gael. gearbhul garefowl, and F. gorfou a sort of penguin. The meaning of the first part of the compound is uncertain.]
The great auk (Alca impennis).
| [c 1549 ? Munro in Sibbald De Animalibus Scotiæ 22 Avis Gare dicta, Corvo Marino Similis, ovo maximo.] 1698 M. Martin Voy. Kilda (1749) 25 Gair-fowl..above the Size of a Solan Goose, of a black Colour. 1802 G. Montagu Ornith. Dict. (1833) 188 Gairfowl. A name for the Awk. 1863 Kingsley Water Bab. 264 Then we shall not be sorry because we cannot get a gairfowl to stuff. 1894 Newton in Athenæum 3 Mar. 281/3 Imagination has long had a large share in the accounts given of the garefowl or great auk. |