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ossifrage

/ˈɒsɪfɹɪd͡ʒ/

ossifrage noun: gypaetus barbatus, the bearded vulture, the diet of which is almost exclusively bone marrow.

Noun

ossifrage (plural ossifrages)

  1. (archaic) Gypaetus barbatus, the bearded vulture, the diet of which is almost exclusively bone marrow.
    • And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray […]1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Leviticus 11:13
    • Calcareous lies, slate, and trap are still to be found there, rising from layers of conglomerate, like teeth from a gum; but the pickaxe has broken up and leveled those bristling, rugged peaks which were once the fearful perches of the ossifrage.1880, [uncredited English translator], The Man who Laughs by Victor Hugo, Book the Third, Chapter I
  2. (obsolete) The young of the sea eagle or bald eagle.
  3. (UK) The osprey.
    • And their young Ospraies bee counted a kind of Ossifragi: from them come the lesser Geires, they againe breed the greater, which engender not at all. Some reckon yet another kind of Ægle, which they cal Barbatæ; and the Tuscanes, Ossifrage.1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book X.] 3.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […]...
    • And we were just about
      To turn and face the foe, as some tire bird
      Barbarians pelt at, drive with shouts away
      From shelter in what rocks, however rude,
      She makes for, to escape the kindled eye,
      Split beak, crook'd claw o' the creature, cormorant
      Or ossifrage, that, hardly baffled, hangs
      Afloat i'...1871 Robert Browning,Balustrion's Adventure: A Transcript from Euripides, line 117–24

Forms of ossifrage

pluralossifrages

Origin of ossifrage

From Middle French ossifrage, from Latin ossifraga (“osprey”), ossifragus (“osprey”), from ossifragus (“bone breaking”).

Questions about ossifrage

What does ossifrage mean?
Ossifrage means gypaetus barbatus, the bearded vulture, the diet of which is almost exclusively bone marrow.
What part of speech is ossifrage?
Ossifrage is a noun.
How do you pronounce ossifrage?
Ossifrage is pronounced /ˈɒsɪfɹɪd͡ʒ/.
What is the plural of ossifrage?
The plural of ossifrage is ossifrages.

Words near ossifrage in the dictionary

  1. ossifluence
  2. ossifluent
  3. ossiform
  4. ossifraga
  5. ossifragas
  6. ossifrage
  7. ossifrages
  8. ossifragous
  9. ossify
  10. ossifying
  11. ossilegium

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ossifrage (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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