Etymology

poë-bird

po·ë-bird

Today it means: Synonym of tui (“a species of honeyeater, Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae, a bird which is endemic to New Zealand”). Full definition →

Tahitian poe
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The story

  1. Tahitian · borrowed frompoe“pearl”
  2. English todaypoë-bird

Borrowed from Tahitian poe (“pearl”) (a reference to the two tufts of white feathers at the bird’s throat) + English bird.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.