Meanings
plural secretary birds · alternative secretarybird
- A large terrestrial bird of prey, Sagittarius serpentarius, native to Africa with very long legs that preys on reptiles, especially snakes.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounlarge long-legged African bird of prey that feeds on reptiles
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Arabicصَقْر اَلطَّائِر“hunter bird”
- Englishsecretary bird
Probably so named because its crest of long feathers resembles quill pens stuck behind the ears of an office clerk. Alternatively, possibly from Arabic صَقْر اَلطَّائِر (ṣaqr aṭ-ṭāʔir, “hunter bird”), from صَقْر (ṣaqr, “falcon, hawk”) طَائِر (ṭāʔir, “bird”).
More words from Arabic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans sekretarisvoël
- sekretarisvoëlmember of bird family
Arabic كَاتِب
- كَاتِب (kātib)member of bird family
Bulgarian пти́ца-секрета́р
- пти́ца-секрета́р (ptíca-sekretár)member of bird family
Chinese Mandarin 蛇鷲 /蛇鹫, 鷺鷹 /鹭鹰
- 蛇鷲 /蛇鹫 (shéjiù)member of bird family
- 鷺鷹 /鹭鹰 (lùyīng)member of bird family
- 秘書鳥 /秘书鸟 (mìshūniǎo)member of bird family
Dutch secretarisvogel, secretaris
- secretarisvogelmember of bird family
- secretarismember of bird family
Estonian kurgkotkas, sekretärlind
- kurgkotkasmember of bird family
- sekretärlindmember of bird family
Finnish sihteerilintu, sihteeri
- sihteerilintumember of bird family
- sihteerimember of bird family
French messager sagittaire, messager secrétaire
- messager sagittairemember of bird family
- messager secrétairemember of bird family
- messager serpentairemember of bird family
German Sekretär
- Sekretärmember of bird family
Hungarian kígyászkeselyű
- kígyászkeselyűmember of bird family
Indonesian burung sekretaris
- burung sekretarismember of bird family
Irish rúnaí
- rúnaímember of bird family
Italian uccello segretario, serpentario
- uccello segretariomember of bird family
- serpentariomember of bird family
Japanese ヘビクイワシ
- ヘビクイワシ (hebikuiwashi)member of bird family
Korean 뱀잡이수리
- 뱀잡이수리 (baemjabisuri)member of bird family
Malay burung katib
- burung katibmember of bird family
Polish sekretarz
- sekretarzmember of bird family
Portuguese secretário, serpentário
- secretáriomember of bird family
- serpentáriomember of bird family
Romanian pasăre secretar
- pasăre secretarmember of bird family
Russian пти́ца-секрета́рь
- пти́ца-секрета́рь (ptíca-sekretárʹ)member of bird family
Spanish serpentario
- serpentariomember of bird family
Swahili ndege katibu
- ndege katibumember of bird family
Swedish sekreterarfågel
- sekreterarfågelmember of bird family
Turkish sekreter kuşu, yılan akbabası
- sekreter kuşumember of bird family
- yılan akbabasımember of bird family
Ukrainian птах-секретар
- птах-секретар (ptax-sekretar)member of bird family
Cite this entry
secretary bird. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/secretary%20bird
“secretary bird.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/secretary%20bird. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “secretary bird,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/secretary%20bird.
Source: secretary bird on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.