Standard Lemma guide

grassquit

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

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Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

Any of several small tropical birds now placed in the tanager family Thraupidae (but previously in Emberizidae), common in the West Indies and in countries of Central and South America around the Caribbean Sea.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • 1988 [1948], David Lack, Notes (for 1988 edition), Darwin's Finches, page xv, Steadman (1982) suggests that Darwin's finches are so closely related to the South American blue-black grassquit (Volatinia jacarina), that all 14 species plus the grassquit should be considered congeners within a new genus, Geospiza.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From grass + quit (“small passerine bird”).