ratite
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˈrætɪt/
- Specialized
:
ratita
- Ostriches are the largest ratite birds and cannot fly.
Examples
-
Emu is a type of huge, flightless ratite bird residing in Australia with nowhere else to go.
Blog text (4) -
And you can lay a molecular phylogeny of the ratites onto these continents, and it just ties them right together.
-
In that world, the Texas ratite industry enjoyed a boom in the late 1980s akin to the booms enjoyed by the Texas petroleum industry in times past.
Fiction book (2000) -
The emu is a large, flightless ratite native to Australia.
-
In New Zealand, the kiwi is a beloved ratite known for its unique characteristics.
Synonyms
2
3.7
A bird that cannot fly, for example an ostrich or kiwi
A large flightless bird like an ostrich or emu with a flat breastbone
Antonyms
Compounds
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word ratite comes from the Latin ratis meaning 'raft' because these birds have a flat breastbone like a raft, not the raised keel that helps other birds fly. That's why ratites are flightless birds.