Gallinazo

[ gahl-ee-nahz-oh ]

noun

1. Usually gallinazo. any of several vultures of the Americas, especially Cathartes aura, the turkey vulture.
2. Virú ( def 3 ).

Word History and Origins

Origin of Gallinazo¹

First recorded in 1745–55 Gallinazo fordef 1; from Spanish, from gallin(a) “hen” (from Latin gallīna ) + -azo, augmentative suffix (from Latin -āceus -aceous ( def ) ); gallinaceous ( def )

Example Sentences

Lima’s black vultures, or gallinazo, are also large enough to wear Go-Pro video cameras, and well-trained enough by Alfredo Correa at Lima’s Huachipa zoo to return with said cameras.

From The Guardian

Was it a black vulture, coragyps atratus, known locally as a gallinazo negro?

From New York Times

It is known as the “Gallinazo” at Mendoza, and “Cuervo” in Tucuman.

From Project Gutenberg

The moistened earth, when heated by the rays of the sun, diffuses the musky odor common in the torrid zone to animals of very different classes, to the jaguar, the small species of tiger cat, the cabiaï, the gallinazo vulture, the crocodile, the viper, and the rattlesnake.

From Project Gutenberg

Scarcely was the exchange effected, when I heard a harsh high-toned voice, like that of a gallinazo, issuing from the centre of a cloud of smoke.

From Project Gutenberg