kiewiet, noun

/ˈkivit//ˈkɪvɪt/
Forms:
keevit, keewitShow more Also keevit, keewit, keuvitt, keuwitt, kewit, kiewit, kivi, kivit.
Origin:
AfrikaansShow more Afrikaans, onomatopoeic from its shrill, piercing cry.
The plover Vanellus coronatus of the Chariadriidae; kiewietjie. Also attributive.
1785 G. Forster tr. of A. Sparrman’s Voy. to Cape of G.H. I. 153Flocks of keuvitts..towards the dusk of the evening screamed out a disagreeable sound resembling that of the name they bear.
1818 C.I. Latrobe 131Some kivits, or plovers, were the only birds..we saw, during several hours’ ride.
[1824 W.J. Burchell Trav. II. 346The armed plover..is a very noisy bird; by night, as well as by day, uttering a sharp cry which was fancied to articulate the words Brother Keevit! Brother Keevit!]
a1827 D. Carmichael in W.J. Hooker Botanical Misc. (1831) II. 56Numbers of..Koorhaans, (Otis Afra,) and Kewits, (Charadrius coronatus).
1827 T. Philipps Scenes & Occurrences 17We killed a few brace of partridges and a peewit, or as it is called here, a keewit; in moonlight nights they are constantly crying on the wing.
1835 E.A. Kendall Eng. Boy at Cape III. 187Birds of the peewit species, or, by the Dutch variation, keewit.
1867 E.L. Layard Birds of S. Afr. 294Hoplopterus Coronatus..Kiewit of the Dutch Colonists...As soon as the cool shades of evening fall on the earth, the ‘Kiewit’ makes known its presence by its loud plaintive call.
1873 ‘F.R.’ in A.M.L. Robinson Sel. Articles from Cape Monthly Mag. (1978) 105That birds and animals assume the colour of the soil in which they are found is well exemplified in the Karoo, where the bont or particoloured korhaan become the vaal or coloured one, and the kieviet the dik-kop, and the pauw (or buzzard) all differ in the same manner from those found near the sea-board.
1936 E.L. Gill First Guide to S. Afr. Birds 139Crowned Lapwing, Kiewiet; Stephanybix coronatus.
1964 P.A. Clancey Birds of Natal & Zululand 156Vanellus coronatus...Not normally shy, but extremely vociferous, uttering a harsh cry which has given rise to its local name of ‘kiewiet’.
1976 W. Héfer in Optima Vol.26 No.2, 46The kiewiet, or crowned plover, which lays its eggs in the orchards.
1986 F. Faller Weather Words 9Among tangled willow stands, kiewiets clamour.
1990 Staffrider Vol.9 No.1, 85Like a kiewiet’s wing his fingers brush my throat.
1993 R. Guy Informant, Underberg, KwaZulu-NatalWell-found bird names like ‘kiewiet’..have come in quite naturally from Afrikaans...Though the bird books don’t recognize them as English words, they are widely used as such and are often more evocative of the real thing. Crowned plover forsooth.
The plover Vanellus coronatus of the Chariadriidae; kiewietjie. Also attributive.
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Afrikaans
kiesieblaar, nounn.kiewietjie, nounn.
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