jaçana

American

[zhah-suh-nah, jah-] / ˌʒɑ səˈnɑ, ˌdʒɑ- /

noun

any of several tropical, ploverlike, aquatic birds of the family Jacanidae, most of them having extremely long toes and claws for walking on floating water plants.

jaçana British

/ ˌʒɑːsəˈnɑː, ˌdʒæ- /

noun

Also called: lily-trotter. any bird of the family Jacanidae , of tropical and subtropical marshy regions, having long legs and very long toes that enable walking on floating plants: order Charadriiformes

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of jaçana

1640–50; < Portuguese jaçanã < Tupi jasaná

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023