carrancha

== English == === Etymology === Apparently first attested in English in 1839, in the writings of Darwin, and usually said to be from a native name imitating the bird's cry. However, compare dialectal Spanish carrancha (“dog collar with spikes”) (from *carrancula), a form of carlanca (metathesized from *carcannula, from Late Latin carcannum): the birds' coloration does sometimes resemble a collar. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term. === Noun === carrancha (plural carranchas) The Brazilian kite (Polyborus brasiliensis). === References === “carrancha”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.