fulmar
(ˈfʊlmə(r))
[originally belonging to the dialect of the Hebrides, and so prob. of Norse origin; perh. f. ON. f{uacu}l-l foul (referring to the disgusting odour of the bird) + má-r mew, gull.
That the word is, as commonly said, a transferred use of fulmar, foumart, seems unlikely. The Gael. fulmair and the scientific Latin fulmarus are from Eng.]
A sea-bird of the petrel kind (Fulmarus glacialis), about the size of the common gull. Also called fulmar petrel.
| 1698 M. Martin Voy. St. Kilda 55 The Fulmar, in Bigness equals the Malls of the Second Rate. 1742 De Foe's Tour Gt. Brit. IV. 275 Another Bird..called Fulmar, about the Size of a Moor-hen. 1766 Pennant Zool. (1768) II. 431 The Fulmar supplies them with oil for their lamps, down for their beds. 1823 Scoresby Whale Fishery 126 In consequence of a fulmar's darting upon its back, and plunging its beak in the skin. 1863 Baring-Gould Iceland 406 Still and ghost-like buoyant Fulmars wing their way. |