Meaning

noun a person who refuses to face reality or recognize the truth (a reference to the popular notion that the ostrich hides from danger by burying its head in the sand)

noun fast-running African flightless bird with two-toed feet; largest living bird

originFrom Middle English ostrich, ostriche, ostryche, ostrige, borrowed from Anglo-Norman ostrige and Old French ostruce, from Vulgar Latin *austruthio, from Latin avis (“bird”) + strūthiō (“ostrich”), from Ancient Greek στρουθίων (strouthíōn), or shortened from strūthiocamēlus, from Ancient Greek στρουθοκᾰ́μηλος (strouthokắmēlos), from στρουθός (strouthós, “sparrow”) + κάμηλος (kámēlos, “camel”).…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0