Preen - The Merriam-Webster Word of the Day - August 8, 2023

Preen


White morph Reddish Egret - Rollover Pass, Bolivar Peninsula, Texas - 09/24/2003
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Merriam-Webster Word of the Day

: August 8, 2023

preen

verb PREEN

What It Means

To preen is to make ones's appearance neat and tidy or to behave or speak with obvious pride or self-satisfaction. In ornithology, preen means "to groom with the bill."

// She stood preening herself in front of the mirror.

// The award-winners were preening backstage.

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PREEN in Context

"One day, I crossed the Nakdong River on foot, over a bridge connecting the neighborhood of Hadan to Eulsuk Island. That area, where the river meets the ocean, had been the site of the Nakdong Bulge, part of a monthlong battle in 1950. It is now an estuary for migrating birds, and I thrilled at seeing a great egret preen on a glittering field of water." — E. Tammy Kim, The New Yorker, 6 Jan. 2023

Did You Know?

Preen hatched in 14th-century Middle English, and early on it displayed various spelling forms, including prenen, prayne, prene, and preyne. The word traces to the Anglo-French puroindre, or proindre, linking pur-, meaning "thoroughly," with uindre, oindre, meaning "to anoint or rub." One of the first writers known to apply preen to the human act of primping was Geoffrey Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales: "He preens himself and prunes and combs his curls / To take the fancy of this queen of girls." Centuries later (sometime during the late 19th century), the prideful meaning of preen took flight, joining bird-related verbs plume, which was being used with the meaning "to pride or congratulate (oneself)," and peacock, a word still used today to mean "to show off."


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David Sparks

I retired in 2005 after 40 years of research and teaching at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (24 years), the University of Pennsylvania (8 years) and the Baylor College of Medicine (8 years). Photography is my retirement hobby.

Nature photography, especially bird photography, combines a number of things that I really enjoy: bird-watching, being outdoors, photography, travel, messing about with computers, and learning new skills and concepts.  I now spend much of my time engaged in these activities.

David Sibley in the preface to The Sibley Guide to Birds wrote "Birds are beautiful, in spectacular as well as subtle ways; their colors, shapes, actions, and sounds are among the most aesthetically pleasing in nature."  My goal is to acquire images that capture the beauty and uniqueness of selected species as well as images that highlight the engaging behaviors the birds exhibit.