lintwhite

English

a common linnet (Linaria cannabina) or lintwhite

Etymology

From Middle English lynkwhytte, lyngwhitte (also as Middle English lindetvigle), from Old English līnetwige, līnetwigle (“linnet”).

Noun

lintwhite (plural lintwhites)

1. (archaic) A linnet.
   • 1785, Robert Burns, Epistle To William Simson Schoolmaster, Ochiltree::

     O sweet are Coila's haughs an' woods, / When lintwhites chant amang the buds,

   • 1830, Tennyson Alfred Lord, “"Claribel"”, in Poems Chiefly Lyrical‎^[1]:

     At midnight the moon cometh, / And looketh down alone; / Her song the lintwhite swelleth, / The clear voiced mavis dwelleth […]