Standard Lemma guide

songbird

noun · 4 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈsɒŋˌbɜːd/
  • General-American: /ˈsɔŋˌbɝd/
  • cot-caught-merger: /ˈsɑŋˌbɝd/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: S AO1 NG B ER2 D Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A bird having a melodious song or call.

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 bird in the passerine suborder Passeri, which are distinguished by a more sophisticated vocal apparatus.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: oscine

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A person, especially a woman, with a melodious voice.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly, idiomatic

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

any bird having a musical call

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: songster

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: oscine, oscine bird

History

Etymology

From song + bird.

Across languages

Translations

38 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: zog këngëtar — bird
  • Belarusian: пяву́чая пту́шка (pjavúčaja ptúška) — bird
  • Bulgarian: пойна птица (pojna ptica) — bird
  • Catalan: ocell cantador — bird
  • Chinese Mandarin: 鳴禽 /鸣禽 (míngqín) — bird
  • Chinese Mandarin: 鳴鳥 /鸣鸟 (míngniaǒ) — bird
  • Danish: sangfugl — bird
  • Dutch: zangvogel — bird
  • Esperanto: kantobirdo — bird
  • Faroese: sangfuglur — bird
  • Finnish: laululintu — bird
  • French: oiseau chanteur — bird
  • Georgian: მგალობელი ჩიტი (mgalobeli čiṭi) — bird
  • Georgian: მგალობელი ფრინველი (mgalobeli prinveli) — bird
  • German: Singvogel — bird
  • Greek: ωδικό πτηνό (odikó ptinó) — bird
  • Hungarian: énekesmadár — bird
  • Japanese: 鳴き鳥 (nakidori) — bird
  • Korean: 명금 (myeonggeum) — bird
  • Latvian: dziedātājputns — bird
  • Lithuanian: giesmininkas — bird
  • Māori: manu tīoriori — bird
  • Classical Nahuatl: cuīcanitōtōtl — bird
  • Norwegian Bokmål: sangfugl — bird
  • Norwegian Bokmål: sanger — bird
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: songfugl — bird
  • Polish: ptak śpiewający — bird
  • Portuguese: pássaro — bird
  • Portuguese: passarinho — bird
  • Portuguese: ave de canto — bird
  • Russian: пе́вчая пти́ца (pévčaja ptíca) — bird
  • Slovene: ptič pevec — bird
  • Slovene: ptica pevka — bird
  • Spanish: pájaro cantor — bird
  • Swedish: sångfågel — bird
  • Ukrainian: співо́чий птах (spivóčyj ptax) — bird
  • Volapük: kanitaböd — bird
  • Welsh: adar canu — bird
Real reading context

songbird in complete knowledge articles