heron

[her-uh n] /ˈhɛr ən/

noun

any of numerous long-legged, long-necked, usually long-billed birds of the family Ardeidae, including the true herons, egrets, night herons, and bitterns.

Origin

1275-1325; Middle English heiro(u)n, hero(u)n < Middle French hairon (French héron) < Germanic; compare Old High German heigir

Heron

[heer-on] /ˈhɪər ɒn/

noun

Hero (def 2).

British Dictionary definitions for heron

Hero²

/ˈhɪərəʊ/

noun

1st century ad, Greek mathematician and inventor

heron

/ˈhɛrən/

noun

any of various wading birds of the genera Butorides, Ardea, etc, having a long neck, slim body, and a plumage that is commonly grey or white: family Ardeidae, order Ciconiiformes

Word Origin

C14: from Old French hairon, of Germanic origin; compare Old High German heigaro, Old Norse hegri

Heron

/ˈhɪərɒn/

noun

same as Hero

Patrick. 1920–99, British abstract painter and art critic

Word Origin and History for heron

c.1300, from Old French hairon (12c.), earlier hairo (11c., Modern French héron), from Frankish *haigiro or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *hraigran- (cf. Old High German heigaro "heron," German Reiher, Dutch reiger, Old Norse hegri), from PIE *qriq-, perhaps imitative of its cry (cf. Old Church Slavonic kriku "cry, scream," Lithuanian kryksti "to shriek"). Old English cognate hraga did not survive into Middle English.

heron in the Bible

(Lev. 11:19; Deut. 14:18), ranked among the unclean birds. The Hebrew name is _'anaphah_, and indicates that the bird so named is remarkable for its angry disposition. "The herons are wading-birds, peculiarly irritable, remarkable for their voracity, frequenting marshes and oozy rivers, and spread over the regions of the East." The Ardea russeta, or little golden egret, is the commonest species in Asia.