large grallatorial bird, mid-15c. (late 14c. as a surname), from Old French bistarde, also oustarde, said to be from Latin avis tarda, but the sense of this ("slow bird") is the opposite of the bird's behavior and thus it might be a folk-etymology. Cognate with Italian ottarda, Spanish avutarda. Extinct in England since 1832 but lately an effort has been made to reintroduce them.