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anhinga

noun
an·​hin·​ga | \ an-ˈhiÅ‹-gÉ™ How to pronounce anhinga (audio) \

Definition of anhinga

: any of a genus (Anhinga) of fish-eating birds related to the cormorants but distinguished by a longer neck and sharply pointed rather than hooked bill especially : one (A. anhinga) occurring from the southern U.S. to Argentina

Examples of anhinga in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

 Birds required to be protected include anhinga, cormorant, great blue heron, great egret and snowy egret, all of which have different nesting periods. — Mark Schleifstein, NOLA.com, "Bayou Bridge Pipeline gets Army Corps permit for Louisiana right of way," 14 Dec. 2017 Anhinga Amble, 10:30-11:20 a.m. Saturday at Everglades National Park at Royal Palm. — Jennifer Jhon, South Florida Parenting, "Best bets for weekend family fun: Go to the park, plus 18 more things to do," 17 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'anhinga.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of anhinga

1769, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for anhinga

borrowed from New Latin, borrowed from Tupi ayíŋa (phonetically ãĩŋã)

Note: This word entered zoological literature through Georg Marcgrave and Willem Piso's Historia naturalis Brasiliae (Leiden and Amsterdam, 1648), p. 218, though it does not appear to be otherwise documented in Tupi before attestations in 19th-century Amazonian Lingua Geral (a Tupi-based lingua franca). Not an entry in Antônio Geraldo da Cunha, Dicionário histórico das palavras portuguesas de origem tupi (São Paulo, 1978); the usual names for the bird in Brazil are carará and biguatinga (both also from Tupi). The genus name was introduced by Mathurin Jacques Brisson in Ornithologie, ou Méthode Contenant la Division des Oiseaux (Paris, 1760), vol. 6, pp. 476-79, based on Marcgrave and Piso.

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More from Merriam-Webster on anhinga

Rhyming Dictionary: Words that rhyme with anhinga

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about anhinga

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