pipit
(ˈpɪpɪt)
Also 8 pippet, -it, 9 pipet.
[prob. imitative of the bird's ‘short and feeble note’ (Swainson). Cf. pip v.2, and the dial. names titling, tietick, cheeper, peep, etc. So F. pipit, pitpit.]
Any bird of the genus Anthus or several allied genera of the family Motacillidæ, widely distributed over most parts of the world, and having a general resemblance to larks. The common British species are the Meadow Pipit or Titlark, A. pratensis; the Tree Pipit or Pipit-lark, A. trivialis (A. arboreus); and the Rock Pipit, Rock-lark, or Shore-lark, A. obscurus.
| 1768 Pennant Zool. II. 241 A species [of lark] taken in the neighborhood of London called by the bird-catchers a pippit. 1832 Selby in Proc. Berw. Nat. Club I. No. i. 18 The rock or shore pipit (Anthus aquaticus)... In size it exceeds..the common and the tree pipet (A. pratensis and arboreus). 1882 Hardy Ibid. IX. No. 3. 453 Larks and pipit-larks arise at intervals. 1894 Newton Dict. Birds s.v., Pipits, of which over 30 species have been described..occur in almost all parts of the world. |