Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Pelican \Pel"i*can\, n. [F. p['e]lican, L. pelicanus, pelecanus,
   Gr. ?, ?, ?, the woodpecker, and also a water bird of the
   pelican kind, fr. ? to hew with an ax, akin to Skr.
   para[,c]u.] [Written also {pelecan}.]
   1. (Zo["o]l.) Any large webfooted bird of the genus
      {Pelecanus}, of which about a dozen species are known.
      They have an enormous bill, to the lower edge of which is
      attached a pouch in which captured fishes are temporarily
      stored.

   Note: The American white pelican ({Pelecanus
         erythrorhynchos}) and the brown species ({P. fuscus})
         are abundant on the Florida coast in winter, but breed
         about the lakes in the Rocky Mountains and British
         America.

   2. (Old Chem.) A retort or still having a curved tube or
      tubes leading back from the head to the body for
      continuous condensation and redistillation.

   Note: The principle is still employed in certain modern forms
         of distilling apparatus.

   {Frigate pelican} (Zo["o]l.), the frigate bird. See under
      {Frigate}.

   {Pelican fish} (Zo["o]l.), deep-sea fish ({Eurypharynx
      pelecanoides}) of the order {Lyomeri}, remarkable for the
      enormous development of the jaws, which support a large
      gular pouch.

   {Pelican flower} (Bot.), the very large and curiously shaped
      blossom of a climbing plant ({Aristolochia grandiflora})
      of the West Indies; also, the plant itself.

   {Pelican ibis} (Zo["o]l.), a large Asiatic wood ibis
      ({Tantalus leucocephalus}). The head and throat are
      destitute of feathers; the plumage is white, with the
      quills and the tail greenish black.

   {Pelican in her piety} (in heraldry and symbolical art), a
      representation of a pelican in the act of wounding her
      breast in order to nourish her young with her blood; -- a
      practice fabulously attributed to the bird, on account of
      which it was adopted as a symbol of the Redeemer, and of
      charity.

   {Pelican's foot} (Zo["o]l.), a marine gastropod shell of the
      genus {Aporrhais}, esp. {Aporrhais pes-pelicani} of
      Europe.