DCHP-1 Online

wavey wavy [Algonk.; cf. Ojibwa wewe and Cree wehwew goose]

• n. a wild goose, especially the snow goose.

  See also: blue wavey  horned wavey  snow goose  wavey goose  wawa ((1))  white wavey  

  • Although wavey is ultimately derived from an Algonkian onomatopoeic word for a goose, the present form may have been influenced by that of the Canadian French borrowing of the same term.

  • 1743  (1949)  . . . the white geese . . . they [Crees] style wappawawewuck) which the English call's weywey's.
  • 1820  (1823)  On the way back Hepburn and Keskarrah shot several waveys . . . .
  • 1965  Even children can talk goose language. They call the wavies down to the hunter's guns.