ptarmigan

English

Etymology

From Scottish Gaelic tarmachan, of unknown origin. The pt- comes from a mistaken belief in a Greek origin, as if related to ptero- (“wing”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtɑːmɪɡən/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Noun

ptarmigan (plural ptarmigan or ptarmigans)

1. Any of three species of small grouse in the genus Lagopus found in subarctic tundra areas of North America and Eurasia.

Synonyms

• (species of small grouse): lagopus (obsolete)
• rype

Derived terms

• rock ptarmigan, Lagopus muta
• white-tailed ptarmigan, Lagopus leucura
• willow ptarmigan, Lagopus lagopus

Translations

a small grouse, Lagopus

• Aleut: agdiikax
• Bulgarian: бяла яребица f (bjala jarebica)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 鷓鴣／鹧鸪 (zh) (zhègū), 雷鳥／雷鸟 (zh) (léiniǎo)

• Cornish: tarmagan m
• Czech: bělokur m
• Danish: fjeldrype (da) c
• Dutch: sneeuwhoen (nl) n
• Faroese: fjallarýpa f, rýpa f
• Finnish: kiiruna (fi)
• French: ptarmigan (fr) m, lagopède (fr) m
• German: Schneehuhn (de) n
• Greek: βουνοχιονόκοτα f (vounochionókota)
• Greenlandic: aqisseq
• Hungarian: hófajd (hu)
• Icelandic: rjúpa (is) f
• Irish: tarmachan m
• Japanese: 雷鳥 (ja) (ライチョウ, raichō)
• Lombard: Runcàs f
• Montagnais: uapineu
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: (Lagopus) rype (no) f or m

  Nynorsk: (Lagopus) rype f

• Polish: pardwa (pl) f
• Portuguese: lagópode m, lagopo m
• Romanian: cocoș polar m, ptarmigan (ro) m, potârniche albă (ro) f
• Russian: бе́лая куропа́тка f (bélaja kuropátka), тундря́ная куропа́тка f (tundrjánaja kuropátka)
• Sami:

  Inari Sami: kiärun

  Lule Sami: gierun

  Northern Sami: giron

  Skolt Sami: ǩeâram

  Southern Sami: gïerene

• Scottish Gaelic: tarmachan m
• Serbo-Croatian: snežnica (sh) f
• Slovak: tetrov obyčajný m
• Spanish: lagópodo m, perdiz nival f
• Swedish: ripa (sv) c
• Tlingit: xh'eis'awáa
• Volapük: nifagok
• Welsh: grugiar f
• Yup'ik: qangqiiq