ortolan

From Middle French hortolan (“gardener”), from Latin hortulānus (“gardener”). Doublet of hortulan.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɔː.təl.ən/, /ˈɔː.təl.æn/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɔɹ.tə.læn/, /ˈɔɹ.tə.lən/

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ortolan (plural ortolans)

1. A small European migratory bunting, Emberiza hortulana, once eaten whole as a delicacy.
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, chapter VI, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling. In Six Volumes, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: Printed by A[ndrew] Millar, […], OCLC 928184292, book VII:

     […] this taught him to consider Sophia as a most delicious morsel, indeed to regard her with the same desires which an ortolan inspires into the soul of an epicure.

   • 2003, Stewart Lee Allen, In the Devil's Garden: A Sinful History of Forbidden Food, page 73

     […] the last flavor Mitterand wished to savor belonged to the flesh of the endangered ortolan, a songbird the size of a human toe that is a crime to buy or hunt, and is certainly illegal to eat. Mitterand devoured it in the traditional manner, first covering his head with an embroidered cloth, then inserting the entire bird into his mouth. […] Only its head should dangle out from between your lips. Bite off the head and discard.

2. (US) Any of various similar birds, especially the bobolink, sora, or snow bunting.

• For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:ortolan.

• (a small bird eaten as a delicacy): bird, delicacy

From Latin hortulānus (“gardener”).

• IPA^(key): /ɔʁ.tɔ.lɑ̃/

ortolan m (plural ortolans)

1. ortolan (small bird)

• horticulture

• “ortolan” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).