canard
UK: kæˈnɑːd | US: kəˈnɑːrd
n. a false or baseless rumor or story
n. (aviation) a small wing-like projection attached to an aircraft for stability
The word "canard" comes from French, where it literally means "duck." Its figurative sense of "a hoax" arose from an old French expression vendre un canard à moitié ("to half-sell a duck"), implying deception. In aviation, the term was later adopted to describe a small stabilizing wing, likely due to its resemblance to a duck’s outstretched neck. The morpheme can preserves the original French root for "duck," while -ard is a common noun-forming suffix in French.
The tabloid published a sensational canard about the celebrity’s secret marriage.
His claim about winning the lottery turned out to be a canard.
Engineers added a canard to improve the jet’s maneuverability.
The political canard spread rapidly on social media.
She dismissed the rumor as a mere canard designed to mislead the public.