grallic

English

Etymology

From Grallae +‎ -ic.

Adjective

grallic (not comparable)

1. (zoology, archaic) Of or relating to the Grallae, a former taxonomic classification of wading birds.

   Synonym: gralline

   • 1812, Noah Webster, Jun., “The Grallic or Stilted Kind, with Cloven Feet”, in History of Animals; Designed for the Instruction and Amusement of Persons of both Sexes, New Haven, Conn.: Published and sold by Howe & Deforest, and Walter & Steele; Walter & Steele, printers, →OCLC, paragraph 315, page 169:

     The crane and fowls of a like kind, seem to hold a middle place between land and water fowls, as they have separate toes like land fowls, but the bills and legs of the aquatic orders. [...] From the length of their legs they are called grallic, or stilted.

Further reading

• “grallic”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Cargill