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)

• 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