Ortolan

//ˈɔɹ.tə.læn// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A small European migratory bunting (Emberiza hortulana), once eaten whole as a delicacy.

    "[…]this taught him to consider Sophia as a most delicious morsel, indeed to regard her with the same desires which an ortolan inspires into the soul of an epicure."

  2. 2
    brownish Old World bunting often eaten as a delicacy wordnet
  3. 3
    Any of various similar birds, especially the bobolink, sora, or snow bunting. US
  4. 4
    The greater short-toed lark (Calandrella brachydactyla).

Synonyms

All synonyms
emberiza hortulanafigpeckermagpieortolan bunting

Example

More examples

"The Ortolan is served on Versache plates with custom silk placemats, and finished with gold leaf, just to gild the lily."

Etymology

From Middle French hortolan (“gardener”), from Latin hortulānus (“gardener”). Doublet of hortulan.

Related phrases

ortolan buntingsnow bunting

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.