garganey

Meaning

Noun

• A small dabbling duck, Anas querquedula, that breeds in much of Europe and western Asia, and winters in Africa.

Origin

• From the Italian/Lombard dialect word gargenei, variant of garganello, by dissimilation of earlier *gargalella, diminutive of *gargala, ultimately from Late Latin gargala ("tracheal artery"), from the root *garg, imitative of gargling, see also Ancient Greek γαργαρεών.
• The English usage owes its origins to Conrad Gesner, who used the Italian name in the third volume of his Historiae Animalium (History of Animals) of 1555.