ˈlove-bird
1. A diminutive bird of the parrot tribe, esp. the West African Lovebird, Agapornis pullarius, remarkable for the affection it shows for its mate. The name is also given to the other species of the genus Agapornis; to several American species of Psittacula; and to certain small Australian Parrakeets, esp. Euphema undulata.
| 1595 Lyly Woman in Moon v. i. 105 Ile giue thee..Loue birdes whose feathers shalbe beaten gold. 1841 Penny Cycl. XIX. 92/2 The latter [Agapornis], a ready example of which occurs in the Lovebirds,..was separated from Psittacula. 1860–1 Thackeray Lovel iv. (1869) 214 Unless they are two behind a carriage perch they pine away, I suppose,..as one love-bird does without his mate. 1886 M. E. Braddon Fatal Three i. ii, A pair of Virginian love-birds were twittering in their gilded cage. 1897 Blackmore Dariel xviii. 179 A pair of what are called ‘lovebirds’, of whom, if one hops the final twig, the other pines into the darkness and dies. |
2. A lover.
| 1911 Maclean's Mag. Nov. 39/2 Seems as if I'd lighted on a pretty nest of love-birds. 1949 A. Hynd We are Public Enemies iv. 121 Ma barged in on the love birds. 1974 J. Mitchell Death & Bright Water xx. 242 ‘Lovebirds, lovebirds,’ Randy Blythe said. Callan sat up, one arm still round Helena. |