The story
A partial calque of French gros-bec, gros (“big”) + bec (“beak”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Today it means: Any of several finches and cardinals that have a large, powerful bill Full definition →
A partial calque of French gros-bec, gros (“big”) + bec (“beak”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.