rectrix
(ˈrɛktrɪks)
[a. L. rectrix fem. agent-n. f. regĕre: cf. directrix.]
1. = rectress 1. rare. Also Queen Rectrix (see queen 2 c).
| 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. ix. (1623) 629 Lady Blanch, Queene Dowager, and Rectrix of France. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 195 Which filthy sinne was since corrected by a Queene Rectrix. 1716 Loyal Mourner 65 Anna sate A pious Rectrix at the Helm of State. 1823 Lingard Hist. Eng. VI. 22 The king..before his departure appointed ‘his most dear consort queen Catharine, rectrix and governor of the realm’. |
2. Ornith. in pl. rectrices (rɛkˈtraɪsiːz). The strong feathers of the tail in birds, by which their flight is directed.
| 1768 Pennant Brit. Zool. (1776) I. 139 Fig. 14 The tail. Rectrices. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XIII. 506/1 The tail consists of strong feathers (rectrices). 1835 Kirby Hab. & Inst. Anim. II. xvii. 163 The tail feathers of birds, called by ornithologists, rectrices or governing feathers. 1893 Newton Dict. Birds 247 Those papillæ which give rise to the larger feathers, such as the rectrices. |