Standard Lemma guide

spoonbill

noun · 3 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.

  • General-American: /ˈspunˌbɪl/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any of various large, long-legged wading birds of the genus Platalea, in the ibis family Threskiornithidae, that have a large, flat, spatulate bill.

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

A species of fish, Polyodon spathula, native to the river basins of Mississippi, Ohio, and Missouri, or its extinct close relatives.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: paddlefish, American paddlefish

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

wading birds having a long flat bill with a tip like a spoon

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: wading bird, wader

Narrower terms: common spoonbill, Platalea leucorodia, roseate spoonbill, Ajaia ajaja

History

Etymology

From spoon + bill, owing to the shape of the animal's beak.

Across languages

Translations

35 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Asturian: paletón — bird
  • Bulgarian: лопатарка (lopatarka) — bird
  • Catalan: becplaner — bird
  • Catalan: espàtula — bird
  • Chinese: 抐桮 (lā-poe) — bird
  • Chinese Mandarin: 琵鷺 /琵鹭 (pílù) — bird
  • Czech: kolpík — bird
  • Danish: skestork — bird
  • Dutch: lepelaar — bird
  • Faroese: spónnev — bird
  • Finnish: kapustahaikara — bird
  • French: spatule — bird
  • German: Löffler — bird
  • Hebrew: כַּפָּן (kapán) — bird
  • Hungarian: kanalasgém — bird
  • Ido: spatulucelo — bird
  • Italian: spatola — bird
  • Japanese: 箆鷺 (herasagi) — bird
  • Korean: 저어새 (jeo'eosae) — bird
  • Latin: platalea — bird
  • Macedonian: лажичарка (lažičarka) — bird
  • Manx: gob lhean — bird
  • Mudburra: damburrngarna — bird
  • Navajo: dááʼadeeʼii — bird
  • Portuguese: colhereiro — bird
  • Punjabi: ਡੋਈ ਬਗ (ḍoī bag) — bird
  • Romanian: lopătar — bird
  • Russian: ко́лпица (kólpica) — bird
  • Spanish: espátula — bird
  • Swedish: skedstork — bird
  • Telugu: తెడ్డుమూతికొంగ (teḍḍumūtikoṅga) — bird
  • Turkish: kaşıkçı — bird
  • Ukrainian: косар (kosar) — bird
  • Welsh: llwybig — bird
  • Welsh: llydanbig — bird