Meanings
pharaoh's chicken1
plural pharaoh's chickens
- Synonym of Egyptian vulture.
Synonyms: Egyptian vulture
Pharaoh's chicken2
plural Pharaoh's chickens
- alternativeAlternative form of pharaoh's chicken.
As for the eagle of Scripture, it is believed to be not merely "as often as not," but invariably, the vulture ; not Pharaoh's chicken, however, but the griffon vulture.
1883 September, Harriet C. W. Stanton, “Poets and Birds: A Criticism”, in The Atlantic Monthly, volume 52, page 3462 more examples
This strange bird, known in literature as the "Pharaoh's chicken," is a tool-user. Unlikely as it may seem, this places the lowly Pharaoh's chicken with man and higher primates as users of eating utensils.
1974, Philip S. Callahan, The Magnificent Birds of Prey, page 22Leave them for Pharoah's chickens, sailing up on their wide black-tipped wings on the thermals, rising in lazy circles before dropping to ground, graceful as circus acrobats, to hunch and tear.
2017, Fiona Farrell, Decline and Fall on Savage Street, →ISBN, page 84
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSynonym of Egyptian vulture.
More synonyms by meaning
nounsmall mostly white vulture of Africa and southern Eurasia
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
So called because it is often found in Ancient Egyptian sculpture.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
pharaoh's chicken. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pharaoh's%20chicken
“pharaoh's chicken.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pharaoh's%20chicken. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pharaoh's chicken,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pharaoh's%20chicken.
Source: pharaoh's chicken on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.