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Synonyms for bird

Grammar : Noun
Spell : burd
Phonetic Transcription : bÉœrd

Définition of bird

Origin :
  • Old English bird, rare collateral form of bridd, originally "young bird, nestling" (the usual Old English for "bird" being fugol), of uncertain origin with no cognates in any other Germanic language. The suggestion that it is related by umlaut to brood and breed is rejected by OED as "quite inadmissible." Metathesis of -r- and -i- was complete 15c.
  • Middle English, in which bird referred to various young animals and even human beings, may have preserved the original meaning of this word. Despite its early attestation, bridd is not necessarily the oldest form of bird. It is usually assumed that -ir- from -ri- arose by metathesis, but here, too, the Middle English form may go back to an ancient period. [Liberman]
  • Figurative sense of "secret source of information" is from 1540s. Bird dog (n.) attested from 1832, a gun dog used in hunting game birds; hence the verb (1941) meaning "to follow closely." Bird-watching attested from 1897. Bird's-eye view is from 1762. For the birds recorded from 1944, supposedly in allusion to birds eating from droppings of horses and cattle.
  • A byrde yn honde ys better than three yn the wode. [c.1530]
  • noun flying animal
Example sentences :
  • A barrel may sound hollow, but not a bird--this wiseacre acquaints us.
  • Extract from : « De Libris: Prose and Verse » by Austin Dobson
  • This will permit the bird to be spread apart, as in Fig. 25.
  • Extract from : « Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 3 » by Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
  • Add the seasonings, mix thoroughly, and stuff into the bird.
  • Extract from : « Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 3 » by Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
  • On the right is a god who seems to be setting free a bird from his right hand.
  • Extract from : « The Babylonian Legends of the Creation » by British Museum
  • The ornithopter has hinged planes which work like the wings of a bird.
  • Extract from : « Flying Machines » by W.J. Jackman and Thos. H. Russell
  • And immediately the bird began to sing, and did not go away until it was told to do so.
  • Extract from : « The Dream » by Emile Zola
  • It was probably merely the beating of the wings of a night bird.
  • Extract from : « The Dream » by Emile Zola
  • Here A is the bird, and B the general outline of the machine.
  • Extract from : « Flying Machines » by W.J. Jackman and Thos. H. Russell
  • So different—so full of life, like a bird, when you are alone in the woods?
  • Extract from : « Green Mansions » by W. H. Hudson
  • I asked, for it might have been a bird, a bird-like moth, or a bee.
  • Extract from : « Green Mansions » by W. H. Hudson

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Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019