"merlion" meaning in English

{
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        "2": "mer",
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  ],
  "etymology_text": "From mer- + lion; sense 1 promoted by the Singapore Tourism Board as the name of a statue installed at the mouth of the Singapore River on 15 September 1972.",
  "forms": [
    {
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      "tags": [
        "plural"
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  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {},
      "expansion": "merlion (plural merlions)",
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  "hyphenation": [
    "mer‧li‧on"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
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    {
      "categories": [
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          "kind": "other",
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          "_dis": "36 8 18 38",
          "kind": "lifeform",
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          "orig": "en:Falconids",
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            "Birds of prey",
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          "_dis": "42 21 15 22",
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      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2002, Can-Seng Ooi, Cultural Tourism and Tourism Cultures: The Business of Mediating Experiences in Copenhagen and Singapore, Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School Press, pages 109–110",
          "text": "In 1995, a second Merlion was built on the island of Sentosa. This new Merlion is actually a 37-metre high panoramic tower, from which it is possible to view mainland Singapore and the Straits of Singapore[…]. A new \"ancient legend\" was created for this creature with this tower. The legend alleged that the Merlion landed on Sentosa and saved Singapore from a storm. It would save Singapore again if the island ran into trouble (according to a film in the Merlion Tower). […] Some locals are upset by this fabrication. The STB [Singapore Tourism Board] maintains that the Merlion reflects the combination of Singapore's national animal (the lion) and Singapore being an island. Many Singaporeans have come to accept this mythical creature as a quintessential symbol of Singapore. To the unaware tourists, the product was packaged in a convincing manner, with the legend, film clip, and chronotopic dimensions of when and where the Merlion supposedly visited Singapore.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2005, Neil Humphreys, chapter 11, in Notes from an Even Smaller Island: Singapore through a Young Brit’s Eyes, Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions, page 174",
          "text": "Like Changi Airport or the Merlion, Singlish is something that is quintessentially Singaporean. It is a dialect that everyone speaks and understands and is something that could provide the cornerstone for a unifying cultural identity.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015, Neil Humphreys, chapter 9, in Marina Bay Sins, Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions",
          "text": "Yeah, well, he went into a tourist shop, not the one with postcards and plastic Merlions. That one ah, the one in here for the towkays and businessmen for conference centres. They sell gold-plated Merlions, Eiffel Towers and Empire State Buildings, you know.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015, Wong Yoon Wah, “Metamorphosis: Temasek”, in Jeremy Tiang, transl., edited by Gwee Li Sui with Tan Chee Lay, Sa'eda bte Buang, and Azhagiya Pandiyan, Singathology: 50 New Works by Celebrated Singaporean Writers, volume I (Life), Singapore: National Arts Council; Marshall Cavendish Editions, stanza 1 (Temasek)",
          "text": "And in the fourteenth century / Because of Nila Utama's river mouth encounter with a merlion / The Lion City surged into being / And its people could travel the wide world",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2016, Karen Harper, chapter 1, in Chasing Shadows (A South Shore Novel), Don Mills, Ont.: Harlequin MIRA",
          "text": "At his favorite, familiar hotel on busy Orchard Road, he paid his fare, hefted his small bag and walked past the gorgeous garden with flowers and a fountain. Under the spray of water was a statue of the so-called merlion, the mythical beast that was the symbol of the tourist industry here. Its top half was a lion and the bottom half a fish. A couple of years ago, when he'd taken a stuffed merlion home to Lexi, she'd insisted on calling it Lion King Little Mermaid from her two favorite Disney movies at that time.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Often Merlion: a symbolic creature having the head of a lion and the body of a fish, which is a national symbol of Singapore; an image, statue, or other depiction of this creature."
      ],
      "id": "en-merlion-en-noun-A66LaPSU",
      "links": [
        [
          "Merlion",
          "Merlion#English"
        ],
        [
          "symbolic",
          "symbolic"
        ],
        [
          "creature",
          "creature"
        ],
        [
          "head",
          "head#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "lion",
          "lion"
        ],
        [
          "body",
          "body"
        ],
        [
          "fish",
          "fish#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "national",
          "national"
        ],
        [
          "symbol",
          "symbol"
        ],
        [
          "image",
          "image"
        ],
        [
          "statue",
          "statue"
        ],
        [
          "depiction",
          "depiction"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Singapore) Often Merlion: a symbolic creature having the head of a lion and the body of a fish, which is a national symbol of Singapore; an image, statue, or other depiction of this creature."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "sense": "national symbol of Singapore",
          "word": "Merlion"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Singapore"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2000, Alan Dean Foster, A Triumph of Souls, New York, N.Y.: Aspect/Warner Books",
          "text": "There were night penguins that emitted green light only when hunting in dark seas, and merlions whose manes were fringed with pallid lavender.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A fictional creature of similar make-up."
      ],
      "id": "en-merlion-en-noun-jkzliJnp",
      "links": [
        [
          "fictional",
          "fictional"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɜːˌlaɪən/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɚˌlaɪən/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌmɜːˈlaɪən/",
      "tags": [
        "Singapore"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/mə-/",
      "tags": [
        "Singapore"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-merlion (lion).wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/80/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-merlion_%28lion%29.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-merlion_%28lion%29.wav.mp3",
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      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (Southern England)"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Merlion Park",
    "Singapore River",
    "Singapore Tourism Board"
  ],
  "word": "merlion"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 2,
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      "args": {
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        "2": "merlin"
      },
      "expansion": "merlin",
      "name": "m"
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "merlioun"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English merlioun",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "merlinge"
      },
      "expansion": "merlinge",
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      "expansion": "marlyon",
      "name": "m"
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      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "merlion"
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      "expansion": "merlion",
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        "2": "merlone"
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      "expansion": "merlone",
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      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
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      "expansion": "merlyon",
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    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "emerillon"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French emerillon",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "fro",
        "2": "esmerillon"
      },
      "expansion": "esmerillon",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "frk",
        "3": "*smiril",
        "4": "",
        "5": "falcon, hawk"
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      "expansion": "Frankish *smiril (“falcon, hawk”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*smirilaz",
        "4": "",
        "5": "falcon, merlin"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *smirilaz (“falcon, merlin”)",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Probably a variant of merlin, from Middle English merlioun, merlinge, marlyon, merlion, merlone, merlyon, from Old French emerillon, esmerillon, from Frankish *smiril (“falcon, hawk”), from Proto-Germanic *smirilaz (“falcon, merlin”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "merlions",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
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  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "merlion (plural merlions)",
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  "hyphenation": [
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  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "english": "mythological bird in French heraldry depicted with no beak or feet",
      "word": "merlette"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Heraldic charges",
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          "_dis": "36 8 18 38",
          "kind": "lifeform",
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          "name": "Falconids",
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        {
          "_dis": "38 3 49 10",
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        {
          "ref": "1666, John Guillim, “Section VI, Chapter I”, in A Display of Herauldry: […], 6th edition, London: […] John Williams […], and Joshua Kirton […]; Humphrey Tuckey […], and Francis Tyton […], →OCLC, page 384",
          "text": "He beareth two coats quarterly, with an Inſcocheon of pretence, viz. The firſt, per bend nebulee, Or and Sable, a Lion Rampant counterchained, by the name of Sympſon; The ſecond, Argent, a Feſſe, Gules, between three Merlions, or Sparhawks, Sable, beaks and legs, Or, by the name of Oneſlow; […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "[1884, Bernard Burke, “Dictionary of Terms Used in Heraldry”, in The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales; […], 2nd edition, London: Harrison & Sons, […], →OCLC, page xli",
          "text": "Martlet, or merlion, a fabulous bird, of constant adoption in armorials, shaped like a martin or swallow, and always drawn without legs, with short tufts of feathers instead, divided into two parts, somewhat like an erasure, and forming, as it were, thighs. This is the distinctive mark of the fourth son.]",
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          "house martin"
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          "swallow",
          "swallow#Noun"
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          "stylized",
          "stylized"
        ],
        [
          "feet",
          "foot"
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        [
          "martlet",
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(heraldry) A depiction of a bird similar to a house martin or swallow with stylized feet; a martlet."
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:heraldry"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "government",
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        "politics"
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    },
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "extra": "a small falcon, Falco columbarius",
          "word": "merlin"
        }
      ],
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        {
          "_dis": "36 8 18 38",
          "kind": "lifeform",
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            "Fundamental",
            "Nature"
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        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "[c. 1381–1382, Geoffrey Chaucer, Parlement of Foules; republished as “The Assembly of Fowls”, in D[avid] Laing Purves, editor, The Canterbury Tales and Faerie Queene: With Other Poems of Chaucer and Spenser. […], Edinburgh: William P. Nimmo, 1874, →OCLC, page 220, column 2",
          "text": "The gentle falcon, that with its feet distraineth / The kingës hand; the hardy sperhawke eke, / The quailës foe; the merlion that paineth / Himself full oft the larkë for to seek; […]]",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative form of merlin (“a small falcon, Falco columbarius”)."
      ],
      "id": "en-merlion-en-noun-ZhhQALuO",
      "links": [
        [
          "merlin",
          "merlin#English"
        ],
        [
          "falcon",
          "falcon"
        ],
        [
          "Falco columbarius",
          "Falco columbarius"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(rare) Alternative form of merlin (“a small falcon, Falco columbarius”)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "alternative",
        "rare"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈməːlɪ.ən/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɚˌlɪ.ən/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
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    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-merlion (heraldry).wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/8d/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-merlion_%28heraldry%29.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-merlion_%28heraldry%29.wav.mp3",
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      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (Southern England)"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Îles-de-Boucherville National Park"
  ],
  "word": "merlion"
}

{
  "categories": [
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    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
    "English heteronyms",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms derived from Frankish",
    "English terms derived from Middle English",
    "English terms derived from Old French",
    "English terms derived from Proto-Germanic",
    "English terms inherited from Middle English",
    "English terms prefixed with mer-",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "en:Falconids",
    "en:Fictional characters",
    "en:Heraldic charges",
    "en:Mythological creatures",
    "en:Singapore"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
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        "2": "mer",
        "3": "lion"
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  ],
  "etymology_text": "From mer- + lion; sense 1 promoted by the Singapore Tourism Board as the name of a statue installed at the mouth of the Singapore River on 15 September 1972.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "merlions",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
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  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "merlion (plural merlions)",
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
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      "categories": [
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        "Singapore English"
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2002, Can-Seng Ooi, Cultural Tourism and Tourism Cultures: The Business of Mediating Experiences in Copenhagen and Singapore, Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School Press, pages 109–110",
          "text": "In 1995, a second Merlion was built on the island of Sentosa. This new Merlion is actually a 37-metre high panoramic tower, from which it is possible to view mainland Singapore and the Straits of Singapore[…]. A new \"ancient legend\" was created for this creature with this tower. The legend alleged that the Merlion landed on Sentosa and saved Singapore from a storm. It would save Singapore again if the island ran into trouble (according to a film in the Merlion Tower). […] Some locals are upset by this fabrication. The STB [Singapore Tourism Board] maintains that the Merlion reflects the combination of Singapore's national animal (the lion) and Singapore being an island. Many Singaporeans have come to accept this mythical creature as a quintessential symbol of Singapore. To the unaware tourists, the product was packaged in a convincing manner, with the legend, film clip, and chronotopic dimensions of when and where the Merlion supposedly visited Singapore.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2005, Neil Humphreys, chapter 11, in Notes from an Even Smaller Island: Singapore through a Young Brit’s Eyes, Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions, page 174",
          "text": "Like Changi Airport or the Merlion, Singlish is something that is quintessentially Singaporean. It is a dialect that everyone speaks and understands and is something that could provide the cornerstone for a unifying cultural identity.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015, Neil Humphreys, chapter 9, in Marina Bay Sins, Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions",
          "text": "Yeah, well, he went into a tourist shop, not the one with postcards and plastic Merlions. That one ah, the one in here for the towkays and businessmen for conference centres. They sell gold-plated Merlions, Eiffel Towers and Empire State Buildings, you know.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015, Wong Yoon Wah, “Metamorphosis: Temasek”, in Jeremy Tiang, transl., edited by Gwee Li Sui with Tan Chee Lay, Sa'eda bte Buang, and Azhagiya Pandiyan, Singathology: 50 New Works by Celebrated Singaporean Writers, volume I (Life), Singapore: National Arts Council; Marshall Cavendish Editions, stanza 1 (Temasek)",
          "text": "And in the fourteenth century / Because of Nila Utama's river mouth encounter with a merlion / The Lion City surged into being / And its people could travel the wide world",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2016, Karen Harper, chapter 1, in Chasing Shadows (A South Shore Novel), Don Mills, Ont.: Harlequin MIRA",
          "text": "At his favorite, familiar hotel on busy Orchard Road, he paid his fare, hefted his small bag and walked past the gorgeous garden with flowers and a fountain. Under the spray of water was a statue of the so-called merlion, the mythical beast that was the symbol of the tourist industry here. Its top half was a lion and the bottom half a fish. A couple of years ago, when he'd taken a stuffed merlion home to Lexi, she'd insisted on calling it Lion King Little Mermaid from her two favorite Disney movies at that time.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Often Merlion: a symbolic creature having the head of a lion and the body of a fish, which is a national symbol of Singapore; an image, statue, or other depiction of this creature."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Merlion",
          "Merlion#English"
        ],
        [
          "symbolic",
          "symbolic"
        ],
        [
          "creature",
          "creature"
        ],
        [
          "head",
          "head#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "lion",
          "lion"
        ],
        [
          "body",
          "body"
        ],
        [
          "fish",
          "fish#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "national",
          "national"
        ],
        [
          "symbol",
          "symbol"
        ],
        [
          "image",
          "image"
        ],
        [
          "statue",
          "statue"
        ],
        [
          "depiction",
          "depiction"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Singapore) Often Merlion: a symbolic creature having the head of a lion and the body of a fish, which is a national symbol of Singapore; an image, statue, or other depiction of this creature."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Singapore"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2000, Alan Dean Foster, A Triumph of Souls, New York, N.Y.: Aspect/Warner Books",
          "text": "There were night penguins that emitted green light only when hunting in dark seas, and merlions whose manes were fringed with pallid lavender.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A fictional creature of similar make-up."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "fictional",
          "fictional"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɜːˌlaɪən/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɚˌlaɪən/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌmɜːˈlaɪən/",
      "tags": [
        "Singapore"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/mə-/",
      "tags": [
        "Singapore"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-merlion (lion).wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/80/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-merlion_%28lion%29.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-merlion_%28lion%29.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/80/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-merlion_%28lion%29.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-merlion_%28lion%29.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (Southern England)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "sense": "national symbol of Singapore",
      "word": "Merlion"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Merlion Park",
    "Singapore River",
    "Singapore Tourism Board"
  ],
  "word": "merlion"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English 3-syllable words",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
    "English heteronyms",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms derived from Frankish",
    "English terms derived from Middle English",
    "English terms derived from Old French",
    "English terms derived from Proto-Germanic",
    "English terms inherited from Middle English",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "en:Falconids",
    "en:Fictional characters",
    "en:Heraldic charges",
    "en:Mythological creatures",
    "en:Singapore"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "merlin"
      },
      "expansion": "merlin",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "merlioun"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English merlioun",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "merlinge"
      },
      "expansion": "merlinge",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "marlyon"
      },
      "expansion": "marlyon",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "merlion"
      },
      "expansion": "merlion",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "merlone"
      },
      "expansion": "merlone",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "merlyon"
      },
      "expansion": "merlyon",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "emerillon"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French emerillon",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "fro",
        "2": "esmerillon"
      },
      "expansion": "esmerillon",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "frk",
        "3": "*smiril",
        "4": "",
        "5": "falcon, hawk"
      },
      "expansion": "Frankish *smiril (“falcon, hawk”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*smirilaz",
        "4": "",
        "5": "falcon, merlin"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *smirilaz (“falcon, merlin”)",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Probably a variant of merlin, from Middle English merlioun, merlinge, marlyon, merlion, merlone, merlyon, from Old French emerillon, esmerillon, from Frankish *smiril (“falcon, hawk”), from Proto-Germanic *smirilaz (“falcon, merlin”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "merlions",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "merlion (plural merlions)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "mer‧li‧on"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "english": "mythological bird in French heraldry depicted with no beak or feet",
      "word": "merlette"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "en:Heraldic charges"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1666, John Guillim, “Section VI, Chapter I”, in A Display of Herauldry: […], 6th edition, London: […] John Williams […], and Joshua Kirton […]; Humphrey Tuckey […], and Francis Tyton […], →OCLC, page 384",
          "text": "He beareth two coats quarterly, with an Inſcocheon of pretence, viz. The firſt, per bend nebulee, Or and Sable, a Lion Rampant counterchained, by the name of Sympſon; The ſecond, Argent, a Feſſe, Gules, between three Merlions, or Sparhawks, Sable, beaks and legs, Or, by the name of Oneſlow; […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "[1884, Bernard Burke, “Dictionary of Terms Used in Heraldry”, in The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales; […], 2nd edition, London: Harrison & Sons, […], →OCLC, page xli",
          "text": "Martlet, or merlion, a fabulous bird, of constant adoption in armorials, shaped like a martin or swallow, and always drawn without legs, with short tufts of feathers instead, divided into two parts, somewhat like an erasure, and forming, as it were, thighs. This is the distinctive mark of the fourth son.]",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A depiction of a bird similar to a house martin or swallow with stylized feet; a martlet."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "heraldry",
          "heraldry"
        ],
        [
          "depiction",
          "depiction"
        ],
        [
          "bird",
          "bird"
        ],
        [
          "house martin",
          "house martin"
        ],
        [
          "swallow",
          "swallow#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "stylized",
          "stylized"
        ],
        [
          "feet",
          "foot"
        ],
        [
          "martlet",
          "martlet"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(heraldry) A depiction of a bird similar to a house martin or swallow with stylized feet; a martlet."
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:heraldry"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "government",
        "heraldry",
        "hobbies",
        "lifestyle",
        "monarchy",
        "nobility",
        "politics"
      ]
    },
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "extra": "a small falcon, Falco columbarius",
          "word": "merlin"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with rare senses"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "[c. 1381–1382, Geoffrey Chaucer, Parlement of Foules; republished as “The Assembly of Fowls”, in D[avid] Laing Purves, editor, The Canterbury Tales and Faerie Queene: With Other Poems of Chaucer and Spenser. […], Edinburgh: William P. Nimmo, 1874, →OCLC, page 220, column 2",
          "text": "The gentle falcon, that with its feet distraineth / The kingës hand; the hardy sperhawke eke, / The quailës foe; the merlion that paineth / Himself full oft the larkë for to seek; […]]",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative form of merlin (“a small falcon, Falco columbarius”)."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "merlin",
          "merlin#English"
        ],
        [
          "falcon",
          "falcon"
        ],
        [
          "Falco columbarius",
          "Falco columbarius"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(rare) Alternative form of merlin (“a small falcon, Falco columbarius”)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "alternative",
        "rare"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈməːlɪ.ən/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɚˌlɪ.ən/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-merlion (heraldry).wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/8d/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-merlion_%28heraldry%29.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-merlion_%28heraldry%29.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/8d/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-merlion_%28heraldry%29.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-merlion_%28heraldry%29.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (Southern England)"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Îles-de-Boucherville National Park"
  ],
  "word": "merlion"
}