moorhenn.
/ˈmʊəhɛn/, /ˈmɔːhɛn/, U.S. /ˈmʊrˌhɛn/ 1. English regional (northern), Scottish, and Irish English. The female of the red grouse, Lagopus lagopus. Cf. moorcock n.
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the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > family Tetraonidae (grouse) > [noun] > genus Lagopus > lagopus lagopus (red grouse) > female
moorhen1347
1347 in J. T. Fowler Extracts Acct. Rolls Abbey of Durham (1898) I. 42 6 morehennes emp.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 246/1 Morehen, poulle griache.
1553 in J. D. Marwick Extracts Rec. Burgh Edinb. (1871) II. 185 The best mure hen vjd.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Poule griesche, a Moorehenne, the henne of the Grice, or Mooregame.
1661 in C. S. Romanes Sel. Rec. Regality of Melrose (1914) I. 236 [They have] in forbidden tymes sett girnes upon severall moore hens and other wyld foules nestes.
a1796 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) I. 377 At length they discovered a bonie moor-hen.
1837 W. Macgillivray Hist. Brit. Birds I. 169 Lagopus Scoticus... Moor-fowl. Moor-cock, Moor-hen.
1880 W. Chisholm Poems 62 An' the muircock aneath the bright cover Makes love to the bonnie muirhen.
1953 M. Traynor Eng. Dial. Donegal 188/1 Moor-hen, the hen-grouse.
2. A small aquatic rail, Gallinula chloropus, with brownish-black and grey plumage and a red and yellow bill extended into a plate on the forehead, commonly found on or near freshwater in temperate and tropical regions (also called waterhen, (U.S.) common gallinule). Also: any of various other small rails, chiefly of the genus Gallinula.
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the world > animals > birds > order Gruiformes > [noun] > family Rallidae (rail) > genus Gallinula > gallinula chloropus (moor-hen)
moorhena1350
water henc1520
moat-hen1544
moor coot?1606
mud hen1611
marsh hen1709
heath-game1711
stank-hen1766
clapper rail1813
skitty1813
kitty-coot1885
a1350 in R. H. Robbins Hist. Poems 14th & 15th Cent. (1959) 26 Heo comeþ bymodered ase a mor-hen.
c1450 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 599/43 Palestris, a morhen.
1512 Househ. Bk. James IV f. 16, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Mure-, Muir-hen For a mwir hen x d.
1575 G. Turberville Bk. Faulconrie 137 Some hold opinion, that the bones and bloud of a Bargander, Moorehen, and such like, may be giuen to an hauke.
1655 T. Moffett & C. Bennet Healths Improvem. xiii. 118 Some Birds are sodden or roasted without their skins, because they are black and bitter (as Rooks, Dawes, Cootes, and Moor-hens).
1705 S. Dale Pharmacologiæ: Suppl. 359 A. Gallina aquatica... The Common Water-Hen, or Moor-Hen.
1795 J. Woodforde Diary 23 Jan. (1929) IV. 168 Mr. Buck the Farmer brought us this Morning as a present an uncommon bird, shot by Mr. Emeris..something of the Moor-Hen species, a smutty black.
1860 G. Bennett Gatherings of Naturalist in Austral. viii. 169 The Rail-like bird, the Black-tailed Tribonyx, or Moor Hen of the colonists.
1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 808/2 In winter, when the inland waters are frozen, the majority of Moor-hens betake themselves to the tidal rivers.
1888 G. Trumbull Names & Portraits Birds 117 Fulica americana, at Havre de Grace, Md., moor-hen, so termed by all.
1903 Westm. Gaz. 21 Mar. 5/1 The moorhen..swimming out from the overhanging tumble of bush and bramble.
1985 S. Hood Storm from Paradise (1988) 13 They discovered a moorhen's nest on a little island of gravel and sedge.
1991 Times 11 June 10/4 Their voracious appetites are believed to have caused the near-disappearance of important ground-nesting species such as the coot, moorhen and little grebe.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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