pigeon1
n.
- a stout seed- or fruit-eating bird with a small head, short legs, and a cooing voice, similar to but generally larger than a dove.
[Family Columbidae: many species.]
- informal, chiefly N. Amer. a gullible person, especially the victim of a confidence trick.
Etymology
ME: from OFr. pijon, ‘young bird’, from an alt. of late L. pipio(n-), ‘young cheeping bird’ of imitative origin.