liver bird

UK/ˈlaɪvə ˌbɜːd/

noun

A cormorant-like bird which symbolizes the English city of Liverpool.

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Meanings

nounliver bird (plural liver birds)

plural liver birds

  1. A cormorant-like bird which symbolizes the English city of Liverpool.

Origin

The etymology of the first element is uncertain. Perhaps simply a clipping of Liverpool. However, the word was identified in Randle Holme III's Academie of Armorie (1688) with German Löffler (“spoonbill”), as well as Low Dutch (i.e. Low German) forms cited as "Lepler, or Lepelner, or Lefler". If this etymology is true, it might have been adopted due to the rebus this word made on the name Liverpool. Also compare Dutch lepelaar (“spoonbill”). Either way, the modern vowel in the first syllable is unexplained.

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Cite this entry
APA

liver bird. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/liver%20bird

MLA

“liver bird.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/liver%20bird. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “liver bird,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/liver%20bird.

Source: liver bird on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.