marabou

• marabu

From French marabou, an older spelling of marabout.

marabou (plural marabous)

1. Leptoptilos crumeniferus, a large wading bird native to Africa, with a naked head and neck adapted for scavenging.
2. (dated, US, Louisiana) A person, five-eighths of whose ancestry is black; the offspring of a mulatto and a griffe.

   • (Can we find and add a quotation of Bartlett to this entry?)

3. A kind of thrown raw silk, naturally nearly white, but capable of being dyed without scouring.
4. A thin fabric made from this silk, as for scarfs.

• (bird): adjutant stork, marabou stork