grackle
(ˈgræk(ə)l)
Also 8 gracule, 9 grakle.
[Anglicized form of the generic name Gracula, a mod.L. fem. corresponding to L. grāculus jackdaw.]
1. A name applied to various birds originally included in the genus Gracula (see quot. 1893).
| 1772 Forster in Phil. Trans. LXII. 400 The Gracula Quiscula, Linn. or shining Gracule. 1782 Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds I. ii. 455 Gracula religiosa, Minor Grakle. Ibid. 457 Gracula calva, Bald Grakle. 1816 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. (1843) I. 244 The purple grackle. 1842 Brande Dict. Sci., etc. s.v. Gracula, The bird commonly called the mino grackle (Gracula religiosa of Linnæus). 1850 Lyell 2nd Visit U.S. II. 150 The boat-tailed grackle (Quisqualus). 1865 Tristram Land Israel ix. 209 My first specimen of the beautiful grakle (Amydrus tristrami). 1893 Newton Dict. Birds, Grackle..a word..restricted to members of the Families Sturnidæ (starling) belonging to the Old World, and Icteridæ belonging to the New. Of the former those to which it has been most commonly applied are the species variously known as Mynas, Mainas and Minors of India..and especially the Gracula religiosa of Linnæus... In the New World the name Grackle has been applied to several species of the genera Scolecophagus and Quiscalus... The best known are the Rusty Grackle, S. ferrugineus..and Q. purpureus, the Purple Grackle or Crow-Blackbird. 1896 Westm. Gaz. 28 Oct. 6/3 The black-throated grackle-cock. |
2. Angling. The name of an artificial fly.
| 1894 Outing (U.S.) XXIV. 227/1 Bass flies of proved merit include grackle, all the palmers, [etc.]. |