guano

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish guano, from Quechua wanu.

noun

1. Dung from a sea bird or from a bat.
   The guano, so extensively used for manure, is full of the most beautiful infusoria, some of them splendidly iridiscent; and there is no better method of testing the genuineness of this useful substance than by the microscope. 1799, Edwin Sidney, Blights of the Wheat, and Their Remedies, page 175
   In the second experiment, a comparative trial was made between guano and bone-dust mixed with coal ashes. 1844, J. Ridgway, Peruvian and Bolivian Guano, its nature, properties and results, page 22
   Low-grade phosphatic guanos can be mixed with coffee hulls and pulp, which contain a small amount of potash. 1918, Philip Lindsey Gile, The bat guanos of Porto Rico and their fertilizing value, page 60
   The great white bat has great white guano! 1995, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls
2. Coccothrinax borhidiana, a variety of palm tree indigenous to Cuba.
   A roof made of guano palm fronds will last up to 15 years, although Maya harvesters point out that the leaves must be cut when the moon is full; otherwise, the stems become susceptible to insect damage. 2010, James D. Nations, The Maya Tropical Forest
3. (obsolete) A variety of seabird.
   The Animals of these Islands, are some Hogs, Lizards, and Guanoes; and some of those Creatures mentioned in Chap. XI. which are like, but much bigger than the Guano. 1703, William Dampier, A New Voyage round the World, volume 1
   Dampier observes, that no part of the globe is so well stocked with guanoes and land-tortoises as the Gallapagos. The guanoes are fat, tame, and of an extraordinary size. 1764, Lives of illustrious British seamen, etc, page 111
   These they call Guanoes, and the dung Guano, the Indian name for excrement in general. These birds, after spending the whole day in catching their food in the sea, repair at night to rest on the islands near the coast […] 1765, John Barrow, A Collection Of Authentic, Useful, and Entertaining Voyages and Discoveries
   The fish consumed by the guanoes, (as the fishing birds are called) are anchovies, the shoals of which are beyond all comparison. 1850, Annual Report of the American Institute, on the Subject of Agriculture, American Institute in the City of New York