mockingbird

See also: mocking bird

English

Etymology

From mocking +‎ bird, from the ability of the birds to mimic sounds and, in some cases, hum as a wake up call.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmɒkɪŋbɜːd/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑkɪŋˌbɝd/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mock‧ing‧bird

Noun

mockingbird (plural mockingbirds)

2. Any of various long-tailed American songbirds of the Mimidae family, noted for their ability to mimic calls of other birds.

   Synonym: mocker

   Hypernyms: bird < animal < creature

   Hyponym: northern mockingbird

3. (archaic) Synonym of tui (“a species of honeyeater, Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae, a bird which is endemic to New Zealand”)

Usage notes

• The family Mimidae (mimids) also includes thrashers, tremblers, and the New World catbirds.

Translations

songbird of the family Mimidae

Arabic: المُحاكِي (al-muḥākī) Breton: risweer Bulgarian: присмехулник (prismehulnik) Cahuilla: mu'íkill Chinese: Mandarin: 模仿鸟 (mófǎng niǎo) Czech: drozdec m, drozd mnohohlasý m Danish: spottedrossel c Dutch: spotlijster (nl) m or f Esperanto: mokbirdo Finnish: matkija (fi) French: moqueur (fr) m German: Spottdrossel (de) f Greek: ατριχόρνις m (atrichórnis) Hungarian: sokszavú poszáta (hu) Icelandic: hermikráka f Irish: éan aithrise m Italian: tordo americano m Japanese: アザケルトリ (azakerutori) Korean: 흉내지빠귀 (hyungnaejippagwi) Macedonian: подби́вница f (podbívnica) Malay: burung ajuk-ajuk Navajo: zahalánii Polish: przedrzeźniacz (pl) m Portuguese: sabiapoca m Romanian: mierloi (ro) m Russian: пересме́шник (ru) m (peresméšnik) Slovak: drozdec m, drozd mnohohlasný m Slovene: oponašalec m Spanish: (Mimus spp.): cenzontle (es) m, sinsonte (es) m; (tropical mockingbird, Mimus gilvus): paraulata f (Venezuelan standard usage), chuchube m (Northwestern Venezuela, specifically State of Falcon), chulinga f (Northeastern Venezuela); (Melanotis spp.): mulato m Swedish: härmtrast c Tagalog: mimido Ukrainian: пересмішники (peresmišnyky) Vietnamese: chim nhại Yatzachi Zapotec: bec̱hjao'

Further reading

• mockingbird on Wikipedia.Wikipedia