starling

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a gregarious songbird, often dark and glossy, belonging to the family Sturnidae

   A starling perched on the roof and imitated the call of another bird.

From Middle English starling or sterling, from Old English staerling, formed from staer ('starling') + the suffix -ling. It is cognate with Middle Dutch sterlinck. The older base staer was itself the Old English name of the bird.

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