ENGLISH
REFERENCE

finch

n.
US //ˈfɪntʃ// UK //fˈɪntʃ// finch
  1. 1 the bird (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Science

    a small bird with a short, strong beak that eats seeds.

    any of numerous small seed-eating passerine birds of the family Fringillidae, typically possessing a conical beak.

    Example

    We put a bird feeder in the garden to attract the local finches.

    Example

    Darwin's observations of the diverse beak shapes among finches in the Galápagos Islands provided crucial evidence for his theory of natural selection.
    • songbird
    • passerine
Origin

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.

Last updated June 20, 2026