Meanings
osprey1
plural ospreys · alternative obsolete ospray
- A bird of prey of genus Pandion that feeds on fish and has white underparts and long, narrow wings each ending in four finger-like extensions.
1594, George Peele (attributed), The Battle of Alcazar I will provide thee of a princely osprey.
2 more examples
But (oh Jove!) your actions, / Soon as they move, as ospreys do the fish, / Subdue before they touch.
1613–1614 (date written), John Fletcher, William Shak[e]speare, The Two Noble Kinsmen: […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, for Iohn Waterson; […], published 1634, →OCLC, (please specify the page), (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)A pair of ospreys bred at a confidential nesting site in Co. Fermanagh in what has been described as like finding long-lost treasure.
2023 August 24, Mairead Sheehy, “'Like finding long-lost treasure': Ospreys breed in Ireland for first time in 200 years”, in Irish Examiner - Aigrette (ornamental feather).
Osprey2
Synonyms & antonyms
nounlarge harmless hawk found worldwide that feeds on fish and builds a bulky nest often occupied for years
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Medieval Latinavis praedae“bird of prey”
- Anglo-Normanospriet
- Middle Englishospray
- Englishosprey
From Late Middle English ospray, from Anglo-Norman ospriet, from Medieval Latin avis praedae (“bird of prey”), a generic term apparently confused with this specific bird in Old French on its similarity to ossifrage.
More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans visarend, visvalk
- visarendbird of prey
- visvalkbird of prey
Ancient Greek ἁλιάετος
- ἁλιάετος (haliáetos)bird of prey
Arabic عُقَاب نُسَارِيّ, عُقَاب نُسَارِيَّة
- عُقَاب نُسَارِيّ (ʕuqāb nusāriyy)bird of prey
- عُقَاب نُسَارِيَّة (ʕuqāb nusāriyya)bird of prey
Basque arrano arrantzale
- arrano arrantzalebird of prey
Bulgarian орел рибар
- орел рибар (orel ribar)bird of prey
Catalan àguila pescadora
- àguila pescadorabird of prey
Chinese Mandarin 魚鷹 /鱼鹰, 鶚 /鹗
- 魚鷹 /鱼鹰 (yúyīng)bird of prey
- 鶚 /鹗 (è)bird of prey
Czech orlovec
- orlovecbird of prey
Danish fiskeørn
- fiskeørnbird of prey
Dutch visarend
- visarendbird of prey
Esperanto fiŝaglo
- fiŝaglobird of prey
Estonian kalakotkas
- kalakotkasbird of prey
Finnish sääksi, kalasääski
- sääksibird of prey
- kalasääskibird of prey
French balbuzard, balbuzard pêcheur
- balbuzardbird of prey
- balbuzard pêcheurbird of prey
- orfraiebird of prey
German Fischadler
- Fischadlerbird of prey
Greek αλιάετος
- αλιάετος (aliáetos)bird of prey
Hebrew שָׁלָךְ
- שָׁלָךְ (shalách)bird of prey
Hungarian halászsas
- halászsasbird of prey
Icelandic gjóður
- gjóðurbird of prey
Indonesian elang tiram
- elang tirambird of prey
Irish coirneach, iascaire coirneach
- coirneachbird of prey
- iascaire coirneachbird of prey
Italian falco pescatore, aquilastro
- falco pescatorebird of prey
- aquilastrobird of prey
Japanese 鶚
- 鶚 (misago)bird of prey
Korean 물수리
- 물수리 (mulsuri)bird of prey
Latin ossifragus, haliaeetus
- ossifragusbird of prey
- haliaeetusbird of prey
Latvian zivjērglis
- zivjērglisbird of prey
Lithuanian žuvininkas
- žuvininkasbird of prey
Norwegian Bokmål fiskeørn
- fiskeørnbird of prey
Polish rybołów, rybołów zwyczajny
- rybołówbird of prey
- rybołów zwyczajnybird of prey
Portuguese águia-pesqueira
- águia-pesqueirabird of prey
Romanian vultur-pescar, uligan pescar
- vultur-pescarbird of prey
- uligan pescarbird of prey
Russian скопа́
- скопа́ (skopá)bird of prey
Scottish Gaelic iolair-uisge, iolair-iasgaich
- iolair-uisgebird of prey
- iolair-iasgaichbird of prey
Slovak kršiak rybár, kršiak rybožravý
- kršiak rybárbird of prey
- kršiak rybožravýbird of prey
- orliak riečnybird of prey
Spanish águila pescadora, gavilán pescador
- águila pescadorabird of prey
- gavilán pescadorbird of prey
- guinchobird of prey
- halietobird of prey
Swahili kipungu
- kipungubird of prey
Swedish fiskgjuse
- fiskgjusebird of prey
Turkish balık kartalı
- balık kartalıbird of prey
Vietnamese ó cá, ưng biển
- ó cábird of prey
- ưng biểnbird of prey
Welsh gwalch y pysgod
- gwalch y pysgodbird of prey
Yiddish ים־אָדלער
- ים־אָדלער (yam-odler)bird of prey
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
osprey. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/osprey
“osprey.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/osprey. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “osprey,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/osprey.
Source: osprey on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.