[Middle English, from Anglo-Norman plover, pluvier, from Vulgar Latin *pluviārius : *plu-, probably imitative of plover cries (possibly influenced by Latin pluvia, rain (plovers being associated with rain in various later European traditions, because they were thought to be more active or easily caught in the rain, or because it was thought that they arrived with the rainy season); see PLUVIAL) + Latin -ārius, n. suff.]