Word Study
yellowhammer
CIDE DICTIONARY
yellowhammer, n. [For yellow-ammer, where ammer is fr. AS. amore a kind of bird; akin to G. ammer a yellow-hammer, OHG. amero.].
A common European finch (Emberiza citrinella ). The color of the male is bright yellow on the breast, neck, and sides of the head, with the back yellow and brown, and the top of the head and the tail quills blackish. Called also yellow bunting , scribbling lark , and writing lark . [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
yellowhammer, n. a bunting, Emberiza citrinella, of which the male has a yellow head, neck, and breast.
Etymology
16th c.: orig. of hammer uncert.
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