Peacock

(Heb. tuk, apparently borrowed from the Tamil tokei). This bird is indigenous to India. It was brought to Solomon by his ships from Tarshish (1 Kings 10:22; 2 Chr. 9:21), which in this case was probably a district on the Malabar coast of India, or in Ceylon. The word so rendered in Job 39:13 literally means wild, tumultuous crying, and properly denotes the female ostrich (q.v.).

PEA'COCK. 1 Kgs 10:22. This singular and beautiful bird is mentioned among the articles imported by Solomon from Tharshish, the modern Ceylon or Malabar coast of India, where the peacock is indigenous. In Job 39:13 another Hebrew word is found, better rendered "ostriches," and the word "ostrich" should be translated (as it is elsewhere) "stork." The wings of the ostrich cannot raise it from the ground; yet in running it catches (or, as the word rendered "goodly" imports, "drinks in") the wind. The construction of the ostrich and that of the stork are thus contrasted, as are also their habits; for the stork is as proverbial for her tenderness to her young as is the ostrich for her seeming indifference. Job 39:14-16. See Ostrich, Stork. Peacock.

PEA'COCK. 1 Kgs 10:22. This singular and beautiful bird is mentioned among the articles imported by Solomon from Tharshish, the modern Ceylon or Malabar coast of India, where the peacock is indigenous. In Job 39:13 another Hebrew word is found, better rendered "ostriches," and the word "ostrich" should be translated (as it is elsewhere) "stork." The wings of the ostrich cannot raise it from the ground; yet in running it catches (or, as the word rendered "goodly" imports, "drinks in") the wind. The construction of the ostrich and that of the stork are thus contrasted, as are also their habits; for the stork is

as proverbial for her tenderness to her young as is the ostrich for her seeming indifference. Job 39:14-16. See Ostrich, Stork. Peacock.

Part of speech: noun (n.)

1. The male of any pheasant of the genus Pavo, of which at least two species are known, native of Southern Asia and the East Indies.

2. In common usage, the species in general or collectively; a peafowl. Peacock butterfly (Zoöl.), a handsome European butterfly (Hamadryas Io) having ocelli like those of peacock. -- Peacock fish (Zoöl.), the European blue-striped wrasse (Labrus variegatus); -- so called on account of its brilliant colors. Called also cook wrasse and cook. -- Peacock pheasant (Zoöl.), any one of several species of handsome Asiatic pheasants of the genus Polyplectron. They resemble the peacock in color.