⚾ A home run ⚾ To hit a home run 📏 An old measure 🕊️ A homing pigeon

homer

1 8.6

A pigeon trained to return home after being released

noun
/ˈhoʊmər/

: paloma mensajera

Belgian racing homer

Synonyms

homing pigeon

vshomer

3 3.5

A pigeon trained to fly back to its home and carry messages

is used mainly for its trained return ability not for carrying messages

Idioms

to pull a Homer

Slang

1 9.9

To make a big embarrassing mistake that others notice

Compounds

solo homer

Jargon

1 6.5

A home run hit when no one is on base that scores one run

Surface Forms

homer singular

homers plural

Morphology

homer = home (transparent) = home + er

The bird is a literal 'home-er' in the sense of returning home, so the suffixation is straightforward.

Etymology

Homer for a pigeon comes from the word home plus -er, because these birds always find their way back to their home or loft. So a homer is a bird that returns home after being released.