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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. A large, clumsy, flightless bird (Raphus cucullatus), formerly of the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, that has been extinct since the late 17th century.
  2. n. Informal One who is out-of-date, as in dress or ideas.
  3. n. Informal A stupid person; an idiot.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. A recently extinct bird of Mauritius, Didus ineptus, the type of family Dididæ and suborder Didi, now usually assigned to the order Columbæ. The dodo was living in Mauritius on the discovery of that island by the Portuguese under Mascarenhas in the beginning of the sixteenth century, and it is known to have survived until July, 1681. Knowledge of the bird was for some time confined to the quaint and often questionable narratives of voyagers, certain pictures, mostly by Dutch artists, and a few fragmentary remains. In 1866 bones in abundance were found, and the osseous structure has been described in detail. The dodo was a massive, clumsy, flightless, and defenseless bird, about as large as a swan, covered with downy feathers, with a very stout hooked bill, short strong legs, short tail, and wings too small for flight; so that it soon succumbed under the new conditions which the occupation of the island introduced, its extinction being probably due as much to the animals which man introduced as to the human invaders of the island. The solitaire (Pezophaps solitarius) of Rodriguez, an island of the same group, was similar to the dodo, but sufficiently distinct to be placed in a different genus. (See solitaire.) The neighboring island of Reunion or Bourbon also had a dodo, in all probability a third kind.
  2. n. [This is the earliest known English mention of the bird.]

Wiktionary

  1. n. A large, flightless bird, Raphus cucullatus, related to the pigeon, that is now extinct (since the 1600s) and was native to Mauritius.
  2. n. figuratively A person or organisation which is very old or has very old-fashioned views or is not willing to change and adapt.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. (Zoöl.) A large, extinct bird (Didus ineptus), formerly inhabiting the Island of Mauritius. It had short, half-fledged wings, like those of the ostrich, and a short neck and legs; -- called also dronte. It was related to the pigeons.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. someone whose style is out of fashion
  2. n. extinct heavy flightless bird of Mauritius related to pigeons

Etymologies

  1. From Portuguese doudo, “fool, simpleton, silly, stupid”. This definition is lacking an etymology or has an incomplete etymology. You can help Wiktionary by giving it a proper etymology. (Wiktionary)
  2. Portuguese dodó, alteration of obsolete Dutch dodors : Dutch dot, tuft of feathers + obsolete Dutch ors, tail (from Middle Dutch ærs; see ors- in Indo-European roots). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

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‘dodo’ has been looked up 2734 times, loved by 1 person, added to 28 lists, and has a Scrabble score of 6.