pheasant

UK: /ˈfɛz^ənt/ US: /ˈfɛzənt/ ,(fez′ənt)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

pheas•ant /ˈfɛzənt/   n. 

1. Birds [countable] a large, typically long-tailed bird.
2. [uncountable] the meat of this bird.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

pheas•ant  (fez′ənt), n. 

1. Birds any of numerous large, usually long-tailed, Old World gallinaceous birds of the family Phasianidae, widely introduced.
2. Birds any of various other birds that resemble or suggest a pheasant.
3. Birds [Southern U.S.] the ruffed grouse.

• Greek phāsiānós (órnis) (bird) of the Phasis, river in the Caucasus
• Latin phāsiānus
• Anglo-French; Old French fesan
• Middle English fesaunt 1250–1300

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

pheasant / ˈfɛz^ənt/ noun

1. any of various long-tailed gallinaceous birds of the family Phasianidae, esp Phasianus colchicus (ring-necked pheasant), having a brightly-coloured plumage in the male: native to Asia but introduced elsewhere
2. any of various other gallinaceous birds of the family Phasianidae, including the quails and partridges
3. any of several other gallinaceous birds, esp the ruffed grouse

Etymology: 13th Century: from Old French fesan, from Latin phāsiānus, from Greek phasianos ornis Phasian bird, named after the River Phasis, in Colchis