kuikendief, noun

Forms:
kuickendieff, kuikenduifShow more Also kuickendieff, kuikenduif, kuyken-dief.
Origin:
South African Dutch, DutchShow more South African Dutch, from Dutch kuiken chicken + dief thief.
Any of a number of birds of the kite, harrier, or hawk families, particularly the yellow-billed kite Milvus migrans parasitus of the Accipitridae.
c1808 C. von Linné System of Nat. Hist. VIII. 44The settlers at the Cape called it (sc. the Parasite Kite)kuyken-dief, which signifies fowl-stealer.
1822 W.J. Burchell Trav. I. 502A kite, which in size, manners, and appearance, much resembles the common kite of Europe,..is known by the name of Kúikendief (chicken thief).
1834 A. Smith Diary (1939) I. 165Many of the birds common in the Colony are also found here, the Elanus melanopterus..and kuikenduif common.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 285Kuikendief,..Milvus aegypticus, a species of kite.
1923 Haagner & Ivy Sketches of S. Afr. Bird-Life 102The Yellow-billed Kite (Milvus aegyptius) is a migrant from North Africa and Arabia...According to Major Stevenson Hamilton, the Game Warden of the Transvaal Game Preserves, its Dutch name of Kuikendief (Chicken thief) is not merited.
1994 A. Craig in M. Roberts tr. of J.A. Wahlberg’s Trav. Jrnls 1838–56 36A common name for the yellow-billed kite is still ‘kuikendief’.
Any of a number of birds of the kite, harrier, or hawk families, particularly the yellow-billed kite Milvus migrans parasitus of the Accipitridae.
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18081994