birdling

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɜɹd.lɪŋ/

Etymology 1

From bird +‎ -ling.

Noun

birdling (plural birdlings)

1. A little bird; especially, a baby bird.

   Near-synonyms: birdlet, birdie, birb; chick, nestling, fledgling

   • 1872, John Hay et al., Not Pretty, But Precious‎^[1]:

     Clasped, love, close to thy heart, thy birdling Foldeth her wings in peace-- Trusts, love! feeling nor cold nor shadow, Finding at last her ease, From fear a safe release, Heart's love, with thee."

   • 1913, John L. Stoddard, Poems‎^[2]:

     Nay, fear not, birdling! let me gently Uplift and hold thee in my hand; Thou gazest on me so intently, Thou must my motive understand.

Translations

small bird; birdie; nestling (young bird, baby bird)

• Esperanto: birdeto, virbirdeto (male), birdetino (female)
• French: oisillon (fr) m
• German: Piepmatz (de) m (colloquial), Vögelchen (de) n, Vögelein (de) n, Vöglein (de) n, Vogerl n (South German, Austrian, colloquial); Jungvogel (de) m, Vogeljunges n
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: småfugl m

  Nynorsk: småfugl m

• Tagalog: inakay
• Volapük: bödil, hibödil (male), jibödil (female); bödül (vo), hibödül (male), jibödül (female)

Etymology 2

From Middle English *byrdlyng, from Old English byrdling (“tortoise”), from Proto-West Germanic *burdiling. By surface analysis, board +‎ -ling.

Noun

birdling (plural birdlings)

1. (dialectal or puristic, rare) Turtle.

Anagrams

• bridling