English▸ noun a marsh bird of the rail family, with mainly black, purplish-blue, or dark green plumage, and a red bill.
Genera Porphyrio and Porphyrula (or Gallinula), family Rallidae: several species, including the purple gallinule (Porphyrula martinica), found from the southeastern US to Argentina. See also moorhen.
– ORIGIN late 18th century : from modern Latin Gallinula (genus term), diminutive of Latin gallina ‘hen’, from gallus ‘cock’.