ouzel

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   an old name for the Eurasian blackbird or a related dark thrush, retained especially in ring ouzel

   A ring ouzel perched on a rock above the upland path.

2. 2
   noun

   in the name water ouzel, a dipper, an aquatic songbird that walks and feeds in fast-flowing streams

   The water ouzel bobbed on a stone before plunging into the current.

From Middle English osel and Old English osle, from a Germanic bird name also represented by German Amsel ("blackbird"). Ouzel survives mainly in compounds: ring ouzel names a thrush, while water ouzel is an older name for a dipper.

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