ornithologize

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UK/ˌɔːnɪˈθɒləd͡ʒaɪz/US/ˌɔɹnɪˈθɑləd͡ʒaɪz/

verb

To practise ornithology.

Scrabble 26

Meanings

verbornithologize (third-person singular simple present ornithologizes, present participle ornithologizing, simple past and past participle ornithologized)

present singular third person ornithologizes · participle present ornithologizing · participle past ornithologized · past ornithologized

  1. intransitiveuncommonTo practise ornithology.

    I have pretty well finished ornithologizing this spring, and have done worse than ever.

    1847 May 31, Spencer Fullerton Baird, “From Spencer F. Baird to William M. Baird”, in William Healey Dall, Spencer Fullerton Baird: A Biography, Including Selections from His Correspondence with Audubon, Agassiz, Dana, and Others, Philadelphia, Pa.; London: J. B. Lippincott Company, published 1915, page 167
    5 more examples

    I strongly suspect that this bird has been mistaken by naturalists, who have ornithologized in this section, for the common American raven (Corvus carnivorus), since it seems to me impossible that any one should remain here any length of time without seeing it; […]

    1873 January, C. E. Aiken, “A Glimpse at Colorado and its Birds”, in A[lpheus] S[pring] Packard, Jr., F[rederic] W[ard] Putnam, R. H. Ward, editors, The American Naturalist, an Illustrated Magazine of Natural History, volume VII, number 1, Salem, Mass.: Peabody Academy of Science, page 16

    In early summer, several years ago, we were ornithologizing in a beautiful clump of natural wood along a steep brae face, so well sheltered from the north and east, and with so sunny and southern an aspect, that it had been known to us for years as the very paradise of all sorts of singing-birds in the nesting season.

    1883 July 14, “Weasel and Hare. A Desperate Attempt of the Weasel to Secure a Hare.”, in The Bayonne Herald and Greenville Register, volume 18, number 2, Bayonne, N.J., page [6], column 3

    I have always followed my own sweet will in Prospect Park; sketched, botanized, ornithologized, entomologized as my whim dictated, and my whim dictates stronger than ever in the present emergency, could I only be on hand to humor it.

    1890 June 19, W[illiam] Hamilton Gibson, “Selections from the Mail. Mr. Jones, of Prospect Park. He Is Assured by Mr. W. Hamilton Gibson That the Artists Have No Desire to Transfer His Brutalities to Canvas.”, in New-York Tribune, volume L, number 15,924, New York, N.Y., published 21 June 1890, page 7, column 5

    In the meantime, it would be a wise precaution for them to divert suspicion by wearing starched linen collars, neat cut-away coats, and, if possible, tall silk hats, while they are out in the woods botanizing or ornithologizing.

    1891 July 25, “The Listener”, in Boston Evening Transcript, number 18,646, Boston, Mass., page 12, column 4

    The party consisted of the authors and three students from the Throop Polytechnic Institute of Pasadena. One of these, Philip Finger, was Mr. Mailliard’s assistant; another, Joseph Dixon, Mr. Grinnell’s; while the third, Walter P. Taylor, ornithologized on his own account.

    1905 May–June, Joseph Mailliard, Joseph Grinnell, “Midwinter Birds on the Mojave Desert”, in Walter K[enrick] Fisher, editor, The Condor: A Magazine of Western Ornithlogy, volume VII, number 3, Palo, Alto, Calif.: Cooper Ornithological Club of California, page 71

Origin

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with ornithologize

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Cite this entry
APA

ornithologize. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ornithologize

MLA

“ornithologize.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ornithologize. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ornithologize,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ornithologize.

Source: ornithologize on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.