US /ˈpə.dʒən/ UK /ˈpɪ.dʒɪn/
noun Freq #6648

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    A common grey bird with a plump body and short legs, often seen in towns and cities.

    A flock of pigeons gathered to peck at the crumbs on the pavement.

  2. 2
    noun

    An easy victim who is tricked or cheated, especially in a scam.

    The con artists picked their pigeon carefully before starting the swindle.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 noun · a common grey bird with a... culverdove
2 noun · an easy victim who is... chumpdupeeasy markfall guygull
Word family
Forms pigeons
Derived forms antipigeoncarrier-pigeonpibpibbinpidgepigeon-bloodpigeon-breastedpigeon-chestedpigeon-fancierpigeon-heartedpigeon-holepigeon-holing

Etymology

Etymology tree Latin pīpiō Proto-Indo-European *-ōder. Proto-Indo-European *-Hōder.? Latin -ō Latin pipio Old French pyjonbor. Middle English pygeoun English pigeon Inherited from Middle English pygeoun, borrowed from Old French pyjon, inherited from Late Latin pīpiōnem (“chirping bird”), derived from Latin pīpiāre (“to chirp”), of imitative origin. Partly displaced native English dove.

View etymology graph ->

Topics

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