flamingo

B1 Topic:Animals

US /fləˈmɪŋɡoʊ/ UK /fləˈmɪŋɡəʊ/ See IPA manual

Freq #21392

Meanings

1

noun
a tall wading bird with long legs, a curved bill, and usually pink or reddish feathers

Alice struggled to use the restless flamingo as a croquet mallet.
2

noun
a vivid pink-orange color resembling the plumage of the bird

She chose flamingo for the bright accent wall in the studio.
3

adj
having a vivid pink-orange color

The dancers wore flamingo costumes beneath the stage lights.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a tall wading bird with... wading bird

2 noun · a vivid pink-orange color... flamingo pink

3 adj · having a vivid pink-orange... pink-orange

Word family

Forms flamingoes

Derived forms flamingolike

Related forms waderPhoenicopteridae

Etymology

Borrowed through Portuguese flamingo and Spanish flamenco, probably from Catalan flamenc. The ultimate origin of the bird sense is disputed. One proposal connects it with the same Germanic source as Fleming, perhaps through an association between the bird's ruddy color and a stereotyped Flemish complexion; influence from words for flame has also been suggested.

Topics

Animals

External links

# flamingo

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun, adj
**IPA (US):** /fləˈmɪŋɡoʊ/
**IPA (UK):** /fləˈmɪŋɡəʊ/
**Frequency rank:** 21392

## Meanings
1. a tall wading bird with long legs, a curved bill, and usually pink or reddish feathers
2. a vivid pink-orange color resembling the plumage of the bird
3. having a vivid pink-orange color

## Examples
- Alice struggled to use the restless flamingo as a croquet mallet.
- She chose flamingo for the bright accent wall in the studio.
- The dancers wore flamingo costumes beneath the stage lights.

## Synonyms
- wading bird
- flamingo pink

## Derived Forms
- flamingolike

## Related Forms
- wader
- Phoenicopteridae

## Etymology
Borrowed through Portuguese flamingo and Spanish flamenco, probably from Catalan flamenc. The ultimate origin of the bird sense is disputed. One proposal connects it with the same Germanic source as Fleming, perhaps through an association between the bird's ruddy color and a stereotyped Flemish complexion; influence from words for flame has also been suggested.

## Topics
- Animals

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