jailbird

C2+ Topic:People & Society

Also spelled jail-bird

US /ˈdʒeɪlˌbɜrd/ UK /ˈdʒeɪlbɜːd/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
a person who is or has often been in prison

The reformed jailbird now mentors troubled youths away from crime.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person who is or has... convict prisoner felon inmate con captive

Word family

Related forms jail jailer jaildom

Etymology

Compound of 'jail' + 'bird', alluding to a bird in a cage; 'jail' from Old French 'jaiole, gaiole' ('cage'), from Vulgar Latin 'gaviola', from Latin 'cavea' ('cage, cavity').

gaiole Old French cavea Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

# jailbird

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˈdʒeɪlˌbɜrd
**IPA (UK):** ˈdʒeɪlbɜːd

## Meanings
1. a person who is or has often been in prison

## Examples
- The reformed jailbird now mentors troubled youths away from crime.

## Synonyms
- convict
- prisoner
- felon
- inmate
- con
- captive

## Related Forms
- jail
- jailer
- jaildom

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: gaiole
- Root: cavea

## Etymology
Compound of 'jail' + 'bird', alluding to a bird in a cage; 'jail' from Old French 'jaiole, gaiole' ('cage'), from Vulgar Latin 'gaviola', from Latin 'cavea' ('cage, cavity').

## AI Etymology
Jailbird is a compound of 'jail' + 'bird', alluding to a bird in a cage; 'jail' from Old French 'jaiole, gaiole' ('cage'), from Vulgar Latin 'gaviola', from Latin 'cavea' ('cage, cavity'). The etymological trail includes Old French gaiole, Latin cavea. The same word family includes jail, jailer, jaildom. Its current noun use means "a person who is or has often been in prison".

## Topics
- People & Society

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jailbird

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