ossifrage

[ os-uh-frij ]

noun
  1. the lammergeier.

  2. Archaic. the osprey.

Origin of ossifrage

1
1595–1605; <Latin ossifraga sea eagle, literally, bone-breaker (noun use of feminine of ossifragus bone-breaking), equivalent to ossi- (combining form of os) bone + frag-, variant stem of frangere to break + -a nominative singular feminine noun and adj. ending

Words Nearby ossifrage

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use ossifrage in a sentence

  • These are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray.

    Bible Animals; | J. G. Wood
  • These are they of which ye shall not eat; the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the osprey.

    Bible Animals; | J. G. Wood
  • The word is said to be a corruption of ossifrage, the "bone-breaker."

    An Australian Bird Book | John Albert Leach

British Dictionary definitions for ossifrage

ossifrage

/ (ˈɒsɪfrɪdʒ, -ˌfreɪdʒ) /


noun
  1. an archaic name for lammergeier, osprey (def. 1)

Origin of ossifrage

1
C17: from Latin ossifraga sea eagle; see osprey

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