Standard Lemma guide

waxwing

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

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any of several songbirds of the genus Bombycilla, having crested heads, and red tips to the wings.

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

brown velvety-plumaged songbirds of the northern hemisphere having crested heads and red waxy wing tips

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: oscine, oscine bird

Narrower terms: cedar waxwing, cedarbird, Bombycilla cedrorun, Bohemian waxwing, Bombycilla garrulus

History

Etymology

From wax + wing; so called from the wax-like tips to the secondary wing feathers.

Across languages

Translations

26 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: սրնգահավ (srngahav) — songbird of genus Bombycilla
  • Bulgarian: копринарка (koprinarka) — songbird of genus Bombycilla
  • Catalan: ocell sedós — songbird of genus Bombycilla
  • Czech: brkoslav — songbird of genus Bombycilla
  • Danish: silkehale — songbird of genus Bombycilla
  • Estonian: siidisaba — songbird of genus Bombycilla
  • Faroese: reyðstapi — songbird of genus Bombycilla
  • Finnish: tilhi — songbird of genus Bombycilla
  • French: jaseur — songbird of genus Bombycilla
  • German: Seidenschwanz — songbird of genus Bombycilla
  • Hungarian: csonttollú — songbird of genus Bombycilla
  • Ido: bombicilo — songbird of genus Bombycilla
  • Ingrian: pihlajamarjalintu — songbird of genus Bombycilla
  • Ingrian: sviristeli — songbird of genus Bombycilla
  • Irish: sciathán céarach — songbird of genus Bombycilla
  • Irish: síodeiteach — songbird of genus Bombycilla
  • Japanese: 連雀 (renjaku) — songbird of genus Bombycilla
  • Luxembourgish: Peschtvull — songbird of genus Bombycilla
  • Navajo: tsídiisháshii — songbird of genus Bombycilla
  • Norwegian: sidensvans — songbird of genus Bombycilla
  • Polish: jemiołuszka — songbird of genus Bombycilla
  • Portuguese: tagarela — songbird of genus Bombycilla
  • Russian: свиристе́ль (sviristélʹ) — songbird of genus Bombycilla
  • Spanish: ampelis — songbird of genus Bombycilla
  • Swedish: sidensvans — songbird of genus Bombycilla
  • Welsh: cynffon sidan — songbird of genus Bombycilla