bird

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   An animal with feathers and wings that lays eggs and can usually fly.

   A small bird was singing in the tree.

2. 2
   verb

   To watch and study birds in nature as a hobby.

   They like to bird along the coast on weekends.

3. 3
   noun

   A young woman (an informal British word that some people find offensive).

   He turned up at the party with his new bird.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Bird comes from Old English brid, originally meaning only a chick or nestling; its deeper origin is unknown, with no known parallels in related languages. The reordered form bird eventually replaced brid and also displaced fowl as the general word for an adult bird. A separate medieval bird or burd meaning “young woman” became confused with the animal word and probably contributed to the modern slang use.

Etymology tree Old English bridd Middle English brid English bird From Middle English bird, brid, from Old English bridd (“chick, fledgling, chicken”), of uncertain origin (see Old English bridd for more). Originally from a term used of birds that could not fly (chicks, fledglings, chickens) as opposed to the general Old English term for flying birds, fugol (modern fowl). Gradually replaced fowl as the most common term starting in the 14th century. The "booing/jeering" and "vulgar hand gesture" senses derived from the expression “to give the big bird”, as in “to hiss someone like a goose”, dat…

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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary