Other forms: ospreys
An osprey is a fish-hunting bird of prey that plunges feet-first. An osprey nest, watch the osprey, ospreys returned.
It was extinct in Britain and came back on its own to Scotland in the 1950s, and the nest at Loch Garten is one of the most watched in the world. Its outer toe reverses so it can hold a fish with two toes on each side.
1nounospreyA fish-hunting bird of prey that plunges feet-first.
“We watched an osprey plunge into the lake and fly off with a fish in its claws.”
osprey is a bird.
Medieval Latin avis praedae means bird of prey, and the name attached itself to this bird.
Medieval Latin
avis praedae — bird of prey
Anglo-Norman
ospriet
Middle English
ospray
English, today
osprey
From Late Middle English ospray, from Anglo-Norman ospriet, from Medieval Latin avis praedae (“bird of prey”), a generic term apparently confused with this specific bird in Old French on its similarity to ossifrage.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA