mockingbird

See also: mocking bird

English

Northern mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)

Etymology

From mocking +‎ bird, from the ability of the birds to mimic sounds and, in some cases, hum as a wake-up call.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmɒkɪŋbɜːd/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑkɪŋˌbɝd/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mock‧ing‧bird

Noun

mockingbird (plural mockingbirds)

2. Any of various long-tailed American songbirds of the genera Mimus and Melanotis, noted for their ability to mimic calls of other birds.

   Synonym: mocker

   Hypernyms: bird < animal < creature

   Hyponym: northern mockingbird

3. (archaic) Synonym of tui (“a species of honeyeater, Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae, a bird which is endemic to New Zealand”).

Derived terms

• Bahama mockingbird (Mimus gundlachii)
• blue-and-white mockingbird (Melanotis hypoleucus)
• blue mockingbird (Melanotis caerulescens)
• brown-backed mockingbird (Mimus dorsalis)
• chalk-browed mockingbird (Mimus saturninus)
• Charles mockingbird Mimus trifasciatus)
• Chatham mockingbird (Mimus melanotis)
• Chilean mockingbird (Mimus thenca)
• Espanola mockingbird (Mimus macdonaldi (formerly Hood mockingbird))
• Floreana mockingbird (Mimus trifasciatus)
• Galapagos mockingbird (Mimus parvulus)
• Hood mockingbird (Mimus macdonaldi)
• long-tailed mockingbird (Mimus longicaudatus)
• northern mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)
• Patagonian mockingbird (Mimus patagonicus)
• San Cristobal mockingbird (Mimus melanotis)
• Socorro mockingbird (Mimus graysoni)
• tropical mockingbird (Mimus gilvus)
• white-banded mockingbird (Mimus triurus)

Translations

songbird of the genera Mimus and Melanotis

• Arabic: المُحاكِي (al-muḥākī)
• Breton: risweer
• Bulgarian: присмехулник (prismehulnik)
• Cahuilla: mu'íkill
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 模仿鸟 (mófǎng niǎo)

• Czech: drozdec m, drozd mnohohlasý m
• Danish: spottedrossel c
• Dutch: spotlijster (nl) m or f
• Esperanto: mokbirdo
• Finnish: matkija (fi)
• French: moqueur (fr) m
• German: Spottdrossel (de) f
• Greek: ατριχόρνις m (atrichórnis)
• Hungarian: sokszavú poszáta (hu)
• Icelandic: hermikráka f
• Irish: éan aithrise m
• Italian: tordo americano m
• Japanese: アザケルトリ (azakerutori)
• Korean: 흉내지빠귀 (hyungnaejippagwi)
• Macedonian: подби́вница f (podbívnica)
• Malay: burung ajuk-ajuk
• Navajo: zahalánii
• Polish: przedrzeźniacz (pl) m
• Portuguese: sabiapoca m
• Romanian: mierloi (ro) m
• Russian: пересме́шник (ru) m (peresméšnik)
• Slovak: drozdec m, drozd mnohohlasný m
• Slovene: oponašalec m
• Spanish: (Mimus spp.): cenzontle (es) m, sinsonte (es) m; (tropical mockingbird, Mimus gilvus): paraulata f (Venezuelan standard usage), chuchube m (Northwestern Venezuela, specifically State of Falcon), chulinga f (Northeastern Venezuela); (Melanotis spp.): mulato (es) m
• Swedish: härmtrast c
• Tagalog: mimido
• Ukrainian: пересмішники (peresmišnyky)
• Unami: tàskëmus
• Vietnamese: chim nhại
• Zapotec:

  Yatzachi Zapotec: bec̱hjao'

Further reading

• “mockingbird”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• mockingbird on Wikipedia.Wikipedia