means a plump, short-tailed game bird of the pheasant family that favors open fields and prefers running or a low, whirring burst of flight over sustained soaring

from From Old French 'perdriz,' itself from Latin 'perdix,' borrowed from Greek 'perdix' — a name that ancient writers cheekily linked to 'perdesthai,' to break wind, supposedly evoking the loud whirring flutter the bird makes when flushed. The English form wandered a bit, the older 'partrich' eventually settling into the 'partridge' we say today.