wavey

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -eɪvi

Etymology 1

According to one theory, from Cree. An alternative etymology, perhaps a folk etymology, attributes the name to their peculiar, wavy flight.

Alternative forms

• wavy

Noun

wavey (plural waveys)

1. (US, Canada, dialects) The snow goose (Chen caerulescens)

Synonyms

• (snow goose): white wavy, blue goose, blue wavy

References

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

Etymology 2

Adjective

wavey (comparative wavier, superlative waviest)

1. Uncommon form of wavy.
   • 1713, W[illiam] Derham, “[A Survey of the Particular Tribes of Animals.] Of the Care of Insects about their Young.”, in Physico-Theology: Or, A Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of God, from His Works of Creation. […], London: […] W[illiam] Innys, […], →OCLC, book VIII (Of Insects and Reptiles), footnote 4, page 416:

     Pears and Apples I could never diſcover any thing to breed in but only the leſſer Phælænæ, about ⁴⁄₁₀ Inch long, whitiſh underneath; greyiſh brown above (dappled with brown Spots, inclining to a dirty Red) all but about a third part at the end of the Wings, which is not grey, but brown, elegantly ſtriped with wavey Lines of a Gold-Colour, as if Gilt.

   • 1889 August, Richard Grigg, “Pretty Port Hope”, in Ingersoll Rhymings, Ingersoll, Ont.: […] Oxford Tribune, published 1894, →OCLC, page 47:

     The healthful breeze from off the wavey lake, / Fiavor’d and filtered through your tremulous pines; / Your crazy brawling stream wild babblings make, / But gives the sun-like gleam that nightly shines.

   • 2002, Wensley Clarkson, “The Black Widow”, in Sisters in Blood: Twelve of the Most Horrific Crimes Performed by Women (Blake’s True Crime Library), London: Blake Publishing Ltd, →ISBN, page 177:

     He was such a nice looking boy with that mane of dark wavey hair and those sea blue eyes.

Anagrams

• weavy