roadrunner

English
WOTD – 5 January 2022

Etymology
A greater roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) in Death Valley National Park in California and Nevada, U.S.A.
A lesser roadrunner (Geococcyx velox) in Oaxaca, Mexico.

From road +‎ runner, probably a calque of Spanish correcaminos (“roadrunner”),[1] from correr (“to run”) + caminos (“roads”).

Pronunciation
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɹəʊdˌɹʌnə/
  • Audio (Southern England)(file)
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈɹoʊdˌɹʌnɚ/
  • Hyphenation: road‧run‧ner

Noun

roadrunner (plural roadrunners)

  1. Either of two species of fast-running bird in the genus Geococcyx of the cuckoo family native to North and Central America, the lesser roadrunner (Geococcyx velox) and, especially, the greater roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus).
    Synonyms: chaparral bird, chaparral cock, (Southwestern US) chaparral hen, paisano

Derived terms

Translations

References
  1. “roadrunner, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2019; “roadrunner, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading
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