Standard Lemma guide

nuthatch

noun · 2 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.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /ˈnʌtˌhæt͡ʃ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any of various small passerine birds from the genus Sitta, found throughout the northern hemisphere and noted for their unusual proclivity for climbing down trees head first.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

any of various small short-tailed songbirds with strong feet and a sharp beak that feed on small nuts and insects

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: nutcracker

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: oscine, oscine bird

Narrower terms: European nuthatch, Sitta europaea, red-breasted nuthatch, Sitta canadensis, white-breasted nuthatch, Sitta carolinensis

History

Etymology

From Middle English nutthache, notehache, nuthake, nuttehake, nothak, equivalent to nut + hatch (akin to hack). Compare English nutcracker. Compare typologically Polish kowalik (akin to kować).

Across languages

Translations

25 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: zvarritës — passerine bird from the genus Sitta
  • Bulgarian: горска зидарка (gorska zidarka) — passerine bird from the genus Sitta
  • Carpathian Rusyn: поповзень (popovzenʹ) — passerine bird from the genus Sitta
  • Catalan: pica-soques — passerine bird from the genus Sitta
  • Czech: brhlík — passerine bird from the genus Sitta
  • Finnish: nakkeli — passerine bird from the genus Sitta
  • French: sittelle — passerine bird from the genus Sitta
  • German: Kleiber — passerine bird from the genus Sitta
  • Greek: δεντροτσοπανάκος (dentrotsopanákos) — passerine bird from the genus Sitta
  • Ancient Greek: σίττη (síttē) — passerine bird from the genus Sitta
  • Hungarian: csuszka — passerine bird from the genus Sitta
  • Ido: sito — passerine bird from the genus Sitta
  • Italian: picchio muratore — passerine bird from the genus Sitta
  • Latvian: dzilnītis — passerine bird from the genus Sitta
  • Lithuanian: bukutis — passerine bird from the genus Sitta
  • Polish: kowalik — passerine bird from the genus Sitta
  • Polish: bargiel — passerine bird from the genus Sitta
  • Portuguese: trepadeira — passerine bird from the genus Sitta
  • Romanian: scorțar — passerine bird from the genus Sitta
  • Romanian: țiclete — passerine bird from the genus Sitta
  • Russian: по́ползень (pópolzenʹ) — passerine bird from the genus Sitta
  • Slovene: brglez — passerine bird from the genus Sitta
  • Spanish: sita — passerine bird from the genus Sitta
  • Ukrainian: повзик (povzyk) — passerine bird from the genus Sitta
  • Welsh: delor cnau — passerine bird from the genus Sitta