partridge
/ˈpɑɹtɹɪd͡ʒ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.20 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Any bird of a number of genera in the family Phasianidae, notably in the genera Perdix and Alectoris.
noun
A type of cannon charge composed of several missiles fired all together, similar to langrage or case-shot. Also a large cannon that shoots stones.
Obsolete
name
A surname.
name
A minor city in Reno County, Kansas, United States, named after the bird.
Example Sentences
- "On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me a partridge in a pear tree."
- "...and the loudest sound in the lonely fields was when, adventuring too near some late brood, the partridge sought to deceive by a plaintive cry and seeming helplessness, crossing before your very feet, till, when drawn to a sufficient distance, suddenly the air vibrated to the flutter of her active pinions."
- "Mrs Partridge, upon this, immediately fell into a fury, and discharged the trencher on which she was eating, at the head of poor Jenny […]"
Etymology
From Middle English partrich, partriche, pertriche, perdriz, from Old French perdriz, partriz, from Latin perdīx (“partridge”), from Ancient Greek πέρδιξ (pérdix, “partridge”), probably from πέρδομαι (pérdomai, “to fart”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: partrich, perdriz, perdīx, πέρδιξ
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈpɑɹtɹɪd͡ʒ/
- British English: /ˈpɑːtɹɪd͡ʒ/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
African partridge
and a partridge in a pear tree
Arabian partridge
bamboo partridge
Barbary partridge
black partridge
bearded wood partridge
birch partridge