coturnix

[ kuh-tur-niks ]

noun

1. any of several small true quails of the genus Coturnix, especially C. coturnix common quail, or European quail, a widespread game bird of Europe and North Africa, and C. japonica Japanese quail, breeding mostly in East and Central Asia and widely used as a laboratory animal.

Word History and Origins

Origin of coturnix¹

First recorded in 1755–60; from New Latin, Latin cōturnīx, coturnīx “quail”

Example Sentences

In her book, “The Coturnix Revolution,” Alexandra Douglas makes a convincing case for quail’s superiority over chickens: they are less expensive, take up less space, and convert feed into edible protein more efficiently.

From The New Yorker

There was a woodcock with a head injury, and a Coturnix quail that might have escaped while being delivered to a Japanese restaurant to become a dinner special.

From New York Times

The gallinaceous birds are represented by a quail, Coturnix novae zealandiae, now exterminated.

From Project Gutenberg

These grassy areas were favorite haunts of the Painted Quail, Coturnix chinensis.

From Project Gutenberg

Alauda, 2. cantillat volitans in aere; The Quail, 3. sitting on the ground; Coturnix, 3. sedens humi; others on the boughs of trees, 4. as the Canary-bird, the Chaffinch, the Goldfinch, the Siskin, the Linnet, the little Titmouse, the Wood-wall, the Robin-red-breast, the Hedge-sparrow, &c.

From Project Gutenberg