Etymology

nightingale

N1I1G2H4T1I1N1G2A1L1E1

Today it means: A Eurasian and African songbird, Luscinia megarhynchos, family Muscicapidae, famed for its beautiful singing at night; a common nightingale. Full definition →

Middle English nyghtyngale ← Old English nihtegala ← Proto-West Germanic *nahtigalā
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

nightingale · noun1

  1. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*nahtigalā“nightingale”
  2. Old English · inherited fromnihtegala
  3. Middle English · inherited fromnyghtyngale
  4. English todaynightingale

Inherited from Middle English nyghtyngale, nightingale, niȝtingale, alteration (with intrusive n) of nyghtgale, nightegale, from Old English nihtegala, nihtegale (“nightingale; night-raven”, literally “night-singer”), from Proto-West Germanic *nahtigalā (“nightingale”), equivalent to a compound of night + gale. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Noachtegoal (“nightingale”), Dutch nachtegaal (“nightingale”), German Low German Nachtigall (“nightingale”), German Nachtigall (“nightingale”), Danish nattergal (“thrush nightingale”), Swedish näktergal (“nightingale”), Icelandic næturgali (“nightingale”).

nightingale · noun2

Named after Florence Nightingale.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.