ortolan


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or·to·lan

 (ôr′tl-ən)
n.
1. A small brownish bunting (Emberiza hortulana) of Eurasia and Africa, eaten as a delicacy.
2. Any of several American birds, such as the bobolink and the sora.

[French, from Provençal, gardener, ortolan, from Latin hortulānus, from hortulus, diminutive of hortus, garden; see gher- in Indo-European roots.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ortolan

(ˈɔːtələn)
n
1. (Animals) Also called: ortolan bunting a brownish Old World bunting, Emberiza hortulana, regarded as a delicacy
2. (Animals) any of various other small birds eaten as delicacies, esp the bobolink
[C17: via French from Latin hortulānus, from hortulus, diminutive of hortus garden]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

or•to•lan

(ˈɔr tl ən)

n.
an Old World bunting, Emberiza hortulana, esteemed as a table delicacy.
[1625–60; < French, Middle French < Italian literally, gardener]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.ortolan - brownish Old World bunting often eaten as a delicacyortolan - brownish Old World bunting often eaten as a delicacy
bunting - any of numerous seed-eating songbirds of Europe or North America
Emberiza, genus Emberiza - Old World buntings
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
References in classic literature ?
With this, he had likewise that distinguishing taste, which serves to direct men in their choice of the object or food of their several appetites; and this taught him to consider Sophia as a most delicious morsel, indeed to regard her with the same desires which an ortolan inspires into the soul of an epicure.
"This," she remarked, with a little satisfied sigh as she selected an ortolan, "is a very satisfactory place to be carried off to.
Within an hour the guests were seated around a board which creaked under the great pasties and joints of meat, varied by those more dainty dishes in which the French excelled, the spiced ortolan and the truffled beccaficoes.
Since then the deep-fried chocolate bar has retreated to the fringes of Scottish food, tolerated in a few places in the same way a few objectionable Frenchmen still like to eat the tiny Ortolan songbirds, feet, head, beak and all.
NEWCASTLE 12.40 Ortolan 1.10 Edmund 1.40 High Fair 2.10 Walser 2.45 Tutchec 3.20 Snapping Turtle 3.55 Shanendou.
Lucas Langoni Cassettari, (1) Pedro Colli Rocha Dias, (1) Amanda Natalia Lucchesi, (2) Mauricio Ferraz de Arruda, (3) Erika Veruska Paiva Ortolan, (4) Mariangela Esther A.
Ortolan birds with lemon is reduced to three steps and five ingredients.
Keen birdspotters flock there for sightings of hoopoe, red-breasted flycatcher, ortolan, lit-tle and pine buntings.
He currently drives a Dallara-Volkswagen and is sponsored by Ortolan and Gulf Computers Services where his father works.