Word
finch
US/ˈfɪntʃ/
UK/fˈɪntʃ/
Definition
n. a small bird with a short, strong beak that eats seeds.
n. any of numerous small seed-eating passerine birds of the family Fringillidae, typically possessing a conical beak.
Examples
“A colorful finch landed on the bird feeder.”
“Darwin's observations of the varying beak shapes among finches in the Galápagos Islands provided crucial evidence for his theory of natural selection and evolutionary adaptation.”
Examples
simple
“A colorful finch landed on the bird feeder.”
complex
“Darwin's observations of the varying beak shapes among finches in the Galápagos Islands provided crucial evidence for his theory of natural selection and evolutionary adaptation.”
Real-World Examples
“Elie has spent years listening to the zebra finch, a small, social songbird.” “More than 150 years after Darwin’s finches helped reshape biology, Galápagos plants are exposing another evolutionary surprise.” Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)ping- Proto-Germanic *finkiz Proto-Indo-European *(s)ping- Proto-Germanic *finkô Old English finċ Middle English fynch English finch From Middle English fynch, from Old English finċ, from Proto-West Germanic finki, from Proto-Germanic finkiz (compare Dutch vink, German Fink), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pingos (“chaffinch”). Compare Welsh pinc (“finch”), Ancient Greek σπίγγος (spíngos, “chaffinch”), Russian пе́нка (pénka, “wren”), Sanskrit फिङ्गक (phiṅgaka, “drongo, shrike”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Synonyms
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/finch