pigeon

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English

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a pigeon (Columba guinea)

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Inherited from Middle English pygeoun, borrowed from Old French pyjon, inherited from Late Latin pīpiōnem (“chirping bird”), derived from Latin pīpiāre (“chirp”), of imitative origin.

Alternative forms

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Noun

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pigeon (countable and uncountable, plural pigeons)

  2. One of several birds of the family Columbidae, which consists of more than 300 species.
    Synonyms: columbid, culver, dove
  3. (uncountable) The meat from this bird.
  4. (Canada, US, informal) A person who is a target or victim of a confidence game.
    Synonyms: dupe, fish, sucker; see also Thesaurus:dupe
  5. (countable, politics) A pacifist, appeaser, an isolationist, a dove.
  6. A person hired to transport film footage out of a region where transport options are limited.
    • 1989, Whitman Bassow, The Moscow Correspondents, page 214:
      Kalb rushed to the airport and found a "pigeon" to take out the film: an American woman headed for London.
    • 2021, Hilary Brown, War Tourist: Memoirs of a Foreign Correspondent:
      At this point, all the commercial airports in Pakistan were closed. The only way to get film out was over land. John promptly hired me to be what was then known in the business as a "Pigeon," and installed me in a comfortable room in his hotel. […] I would then hand-carry his film out of the country, via Peshawar, the Khyber Pass, through the Kabul Gorge, and up to Kabul, Afghanistan, where I would meet a BBC courier and transfer the film bag.
  7. (Australia, military slang) A weak or useless person.
Derived terms
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assorted terms derived from 'pigeon'
species of birds with names derived from 'pigeon' other than domestic pigeon: Columba livia domestica
pigeon breed names and breeding terms derived from 'pigeon' applied to Columba livia domestica
Translations
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Verb

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pigeon (third-person singular simple present pigeons, present participle pigeoning, simple past and past participle pigeoned)

  1. (transitive) To deceive with a confidence game.

See also

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Etymology 2

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From pidgin English, from a Chinese Pidgin English pronunciation of English business during trade in the Far East. See pidgin.

Noun

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pigeon (countable and uncountable, plural pigeons)

  1. (archaic, idiomatic, UK, informal) Concern or responsibility.
    It's his/her pigeon.
References
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  • (concern or responsibility): 1873, John Camden Hotten, The Slang Dictionary (described as Anglo-Chinese)

Further reading

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French

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Etymology

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Inherited from Old French pyjon, from Late Latin pīpiōnem (“chirping bird”), from Latin pīpiāre (“chirp”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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pigeon m (plural pigeons, feminine pigeonne)

  1. pigeon
    Synonyms: colombe, columbidé
  2. (colloquial) patsy (an easily trickable, naive person)
    Synonym: lampiste

Derived terms

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See also

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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Norman

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Etymology

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Inherited from Old French pyjon, from Late Latin pīpiōnem (“chirping bird”), from Latin pīpiāre (“chirp”).

Noun

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pigeon m (plural pigeons)

  1. (Jersey) pigeon

Derived terms

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