Guan
/ɡwɑːn/noun
A large Central and South American game bird of the family Cracidae, resembling a turkey.
Did you know?English guan is probably a borrowing from Spanish guan, which in turn came from an Indigenous Caribbean language encountered during early European colonization.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Columbian period
Taíno or related Caribbean language
guan
“A name for a large forest bird; the precise source language is uncertain.”
16th Century
Spanish
guan
“A large American game bird, borrowed from an Indigenous Caribbean term.”
17th Century
English
guan
“A New World game bird, adopted from Spanish natural-history vocabulary.”
Modern English
English
guan
“Any of several large cracids of tropical America.”