guillemot
(ˈgɪlɪmɒt)
[a. F. guillemot (1555 in Hatz.-Darm.), app. a derivative of the name Guillaume = William. Cf. guillem and willock.]
The name of several species of sea birds of the genus Alca or Uria; esp. Uria or Alca troile, the Common or Foolish Guillemot, and Uria grylle, the Black Guillemot.
| 1678 Ray Willughby's Ornith. 324 The Bird called..by those of Northumberland and Durham a Guillemot or Sea hen. 1766 Pennant Zool. (1768) II. 517 The black Guillemot..[is] found on the Bass-isle in Scotland. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. III. 256 The frequent chatter of the Guillemot. 1828 Stark Elem. Nat. Hist. I. 326 The Guillemots, like the Divers, inhabit the northern seas, are little fitted for moving on land, and seldom venture on shore except in breeding time. 1849 Kingsley N. Devon in Misc. II. 305 Some unseen guillemot would give a startled squeak. 1859 Atkinson Walks & Talks (1892) 328 Guillemots, or willocks, as they are locally [Yorkshire] called. 1883 Black in Harper's Mag. Dec. 70/1 The soft ‘Kurroo! kurroo!’ of the..guillemots. 1893 Newton Dict. Birds 399 The commmon or Foolish..Guillemot of both sides of the Atlantic is replaced further northward by..the Alca arra or Alca bruennichi of ornithologists. |