▪ I. macaw1
(məˈkɔː)
Also 7 machao, 7–8 macao, 7–9 maccaw, 8 maccau, 8–9 mackaw.
[a. Pg. macao, of obscure origin; a Tupi name for the bird is macavuana.
Cf. Sp. ‘máca, a Bird in the Province of Quito, in South-America, less than our Cocks, with a long Bill Red and Yellow, and its Feathers of such Variety of Colours as is admirable’ (Pineda, 1740).]
1. The name for several species of large long-tailed birds of the parrot kind constituting the genus Ara; they inhabit tropical and subtropical America and are remarkable for their gaudy plumage.
| 1668 Charleton Onomasticon Zoicon 66 Great blew and yellow Parrat called the Machao, or Cockatoon. a 1672 Willughby Ornithol. 11. xi. (1676) 73 Psittacus maximus alter Aldrov. Angl. Maccaw, seu Macao & Cockatoon. 1703 W. Dampier Voy. (1729) III. 1. 405 The Red Maccaw. 1707 W. Funnell Voy. iv. 70 The Maccaw..is about the bigness of a Hawk. 1788 New Lond. Mag. 61 The larger Psittaci are called Macaos. 1802 Bingley Anim. Biog. (1813) II. 75 The Brasilian Green Macaw. 1821–30 Ld. Cockburn Mem. v. (1874) 257 [He] was walking..dressed like a mackaw, as the Commissioner's purse-bearer. 1870 Disraeli Lothair xxxv, Upon gilt and painted perches also there were..macaws. |
† 2. Applied (?erron.) to some oriental bird. Obs.
| 1699 W. Dampier Voy. II. 1. 128 In the [Achin] Woods there are many sorts of wild Fowls, viz. Maccaws, Parrots [etc.]. |
3. attrib., as macaw tribe; † macaw-fish, some brightly coloured fish (cf. parrot-fish).
| 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v., With some it [cockatoon] is made the synonymous name of all the Macaw tribe. 1792 M. Riddell Voy. Madeira 69 The parrot-fish, the macaw-fish. |
▪ II. macaw2
(məˈkɔː)
Also 7 macow, 7–8 maccaw, 8–9 mackaw, 9 macca-.
[Prob. repr. one or more Carib words; cf. Arawak (Guiana) mocaya, macoya, the macaw-palm.]
The West Indian name for palms of the genus Acrocomia; formerly also † the fruit of these palms. Now only attrib. in macaw-berry, macaw-palm, macaw-tree; also macaw-bush, a West Indian plant, Solanum mammosum (Treas. Bot. 1866); macaw-fat, a West Indian name for the Oil Palm, Elæis guineensis.
| 1657 R. Ligon Barbados 72 The Macow is one of the strangest trees the Iland affords. 1672 R. Blome Jamaica, etc. 73 [Descr. Barbadoes] Limes, Lemons, Macows, Grapes [etc.]. 1697 W. Dampier Voy. (1698) I. ii. 20 We got Macaw-berries..wherewith we satisfied ourselves this day, though coursly. 1699 L. Wafer Voy. 16 We found there a Maccaw tree, which afforded us berries, of which we eat greedily. Ibid. 20 This being the 7th Day of our Fast, save only the Maccaw-berries before related. 1756 P. Browne Jamaica 343 The Mackaw Tree..is very common in most of the sugar-colonies. 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Macaw-fat, a West Indian name for oil palm, Elais Guineensis. Macaw-palm, the Acrocomia sclerocarpa of Martius. 1864 Grisebach Flora W. Ind. 785 Mackaw Tree, Acrocomia sclerocarpa. 1882 J. Smith Dict. Pop. Names Plants, Macaw Palm or Gru-Gru (Acrocomia fusiformis). 1894 Outing (U.S.) XXIII. 380/2 The oil palm or macca-fat. |