pitangua

P3I1T1A1N1G2U1A1

noun

The boat-billed flycatcher, Megarynchus pitangua.

Scrabble 11

Meanings

nounpitangua (plural pitanguas)

plural pitanguas

  1. The boat-billed flycatcher, Megarynchus pitangua.

    A genus of clamatorial passerine birds of the family Tyrannidæ, or tyrant-flycatchers; the Derbian flycatchers, not including the pitangua.

    1889–1891, William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, “Pitangus”, in The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia, volume IV, number 16, New York: The Century Co., page 4513, column 3
    3 more examples

    This was probably the pitangua flycatcher (Megarhynchus pitangua). I saw several flocks of parrakeets, — one of which lit near us, — and I started to creep up on them; but they took alarm, and flew before I was within range.

    1895, Wirt Robinson, A Flying Trip to the Tropics: A Record of an Ornithological Visit to the United States of Colombia, South America and to the Island of Curaçao, West Indies, in the Year 1892, page 43

    [...] as the buccos or puff birds, the motmots, and the jacamars. Four of our illustrations are devoted to these birds, with an additional one of the beautiful Central American flycatcher, that is, the pitangua flycatcher (Megarhynchus pitangua) (Linn.) ...

    1925, Bulletin of the Pan American Union

    Two new species recently found in the mountains include the pitangua, a night bird that nests in the ground among dry leaves, and the white-winged crossed bill, which lives exclusively in the pine forests of high mountains ...

    2004, Fe Liza Bencosme, Clark Norton, Adventure Guide to the Dominican Republic, →ISBN, page 29

Origin

  1. Brazilian Portuguesepitanguá
  2. Brazilian Portuguesepitanguá
  3. Englishpitangua

Borrowed from Brazilian Portuguese pitanguá, borrowed from Old Tupi pitaûã, from Proto-Tupi-Guarani *pɨtawari.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

pitangua. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pitangua

MLA

“pitangua.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pitangua. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pitangua,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pitangua.

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