quetzal
noun
quet·zal
| \ ket-ˈsäl
, -ˈsal
\
, -ˈsal
\
plural quetzals
also quetzales\ ket-ˈsä-(ˌ)lās
, -ˈsa- \
, -ˈsa- \
Definition of quetzal
1
or less commonly quetzal bird
: a Central American trogon (Pharomachrus mocinno) that has brilliant green plumage above, a red breast, and in the male long upper tail coverts
Illustration of quetzal
quetzal 1
Examples of quetzal in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Domingo Bernane Ajpop-Tzaj, from Guatemala, told agents his family was paying 110,000 quetzal, or a little more than $14,000, for his journey. — Justin Rohrlich, Quartz, "Human smugglers in Texas allegedly terrorized captive migrants with Tasers and pistols," 3 Sep. 2019 Wild inhabitants include the resplendent quetzal, rare species of glass frogs, and elusive animals such as the Baird’s tapir. — National Geographic, "EXPLORE THE WORLD WITH NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC," 8 Apr. 2019 Today feathers from endangered birds such as the quetzal are illegally bought and sold online, Johnson says. — National Geographic, "How an Obsession With Rare Bird Feathers Turned Criminal," 23 Apr. 2018 Among the missing skins were rare and precious quetzals and cotingas, from Central and South America; and bowerbirds, Indian crows and birds of paradise that Alfred Russel Wallace had shipped over from New Guinea. — Franz Lidz, Smithsonian, "The Great Feather Heist," 21 Mar. 2018 The higher dollar inflows from migrants and lower oil prices have helped the country’s currency, the quetzal, gain 3.2 percent this year versus the dollar, the best performance among major currencies in the region. — Michael D Mcdonald, Bloomberg.com, "Guatemala’s Political Crisis Could Hurt Growth, Central Bank Says," 1 Sep. 2017 The items cost less than one quetzal (about 14 cents) each, and even more people stopped wearing traditional clothing. — Photographs And Text By Daniele Volpe, New York Times, "Maya Weave Their Identity Into Their Soccer Team," 30 June 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'quetzal.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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