Wigeon
/ˈwɪdʒ.ən/noun
A dabbling duck of the genus Anas, especially the Eurasian wigeon.
Did you know?Wigeon is an old English bird-name of uncertain origin, first recorded in the 16th century, and its history shows how even ordinary nature words can survive as inherited mysteries rather than neat dictionary puzzles.
Etymological Timeline
16th Century
English
wigeon
“A kind of duck; the bird now called a wigeon.”
Middle English
English
wigeon
“An earlier English form applied to the same duck, though the deeper source is uncertain.”
Early Modern English
English
widgeon
“A variant spelling of the bird-name.”
Uncertain
Unknown
—
“The ultimate origin is not securely established by standard scholarship.”