momotus

[Latinized from motmot (q. v.).) Ornith .: Motmot, the typical genus of the family Momotide (q. v.). Ten species are known, ranging from Mexico to Brazil and Bolivia, one species extending to Tobago, and one to Western Ecuador, The general plumage is green, and most of the spe cies have the strange habit of denuding the central rectrices of the web with their beaks. mō-mus, s . [Gr. momos =(1) ridicule, (2) see def.] 1. Gr. Myth.: Ridicule personified; the critic god, the son of Night. ( Hesiod : Theog ., 21.) He blamed Vulcan for not having placed a window in the human breast. *2. Ord. Lang.: One who carps at everything; a querulous person. Momus' lattice : An imaginary window in the human breast that the thoughts might be seen. "Were Momus ' lattice in our breasts, My soul might brook to open it more widely Than thine." Byron: Werner, iii. 1. mon-, mon-ō-, pref . [Gr. monos alone, sole.] A common prefix in words derived from the Greek, and signifying unity or singlene . mō-na, s. [Sp. & Ital. an old woman.] Zool .: Cercopithecus mona , a monkey from Senegal. It is remarkable for its brilliant coloration; the head being olive-yellow, with black stripe on the forehead; yellowish whiskers and a purple face. The back is chestnut-brown, and there is a white spot on each side near the root of the tail, which is black. ( Mivart .) tha a spine.]