martin

mar·tin
M3A1R1T1I1N1
UK/ˈmɑː.tɪn/US/ˈmɑɹ.tɪn/US/ˈmɑɹ.tən/US[ˈmɑɹ.ʔn̩]

noun

Many of the various passerine birds of the family Hirundinidae, which also includes swallows, that catch insects whilst flying.

OriginMiddle French martin →
Very commonScrabble 8
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Meanings

martin1

nounmartin (plural martins)

plural martins

  1. Many of the various passerine birds of the family Hirundinidae, which also includes swallows, that catch insects whilst flying.

    Roof-haunting martins warm their eggs: / In these, in those the life is stay’d.

    1842, Alfred Tennyson, “The Day-Dream. The Sleeping Palace.”, in Poems. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 150

martin2

nounmartin (plural martins)

plural martins

  1. obsoleteObsolete form of marten

    "Ye must avenge my sister's son's death; I will sables and martins bestow."

    1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 171

Martin3

proper nounMartin (countable and uncountable, plural Martins)

plural Martins

  1. countableuncountableA male given name from Latin originally given in honor of a fourth century soldier-saint.

    Expect Saint Martin's summer, halcyon days, / Since I have entered into these wars.

    Scene 2
    3 more examples

    Luther was not born in the year 1483, but in 84; and not on the 22nd day of October, but on the 10th of November, the eve of Martinmas day, from whence he had the name of Martin. - - - Now you see, brother Toby, he would say, looking up, "that christian names are not such indifferent things;" - Had Luther here been called by any other name but Martin, he would have been damned to all eternity - Not that I look upon Martin, he would add, as a good name - far from it - 'tis something better than a neutral, and but a little - yet little as it is, you see it was of some service to him.

    1767 Laurence Sterne, Tristram Shandy, Book IV ( Slawkenbergius's Tale )

    What splendid names for boys there are! / There's Carol like a rolling car, / And Martin like a flying bird,/

    1933, Eleanor Farjeon, “Boys' Names”, in Over the Garden Wall, Faber and Faber, page 90

    Martin was pretty dull as names went but 'Alex Blake' had a certain dash to it. His publishers hadn't considered Martin's own name to be 'punchy' enough.

    2006, Kate Atkinson, One Good Turn, Black Swan, published 2007, →ISBN, page 81
  2. countableuncountableA surname.

    It all started when Nick Farmer bought George R. R. Martin a drink, but the plot really thickened when the linguist met Martin’s then-assistant Ty Franck.

    2019 December 22, Annalee Newitz and Cyrus Farivar, “Nick Farmer knows dozens of languages, so he invented one for The Expanse”, in Ars Technica
    1. countableuncountableA surname originating as a patronymic.
    2. countableuncountableAn English habitational surname from Middle English for someone who lived near a mere.
  3. A placename, including:
    1. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Marion County, Florida.
    2. countableuncountableA town in Stephens County and Franklin County, Georgia.
    3. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Armstrong Township, Vanderburgh County, Indiana.
    4. countableuncountableA minor city in Floyd County, Kentucky.
    5. countableuncountableA village in Red River Parish, Louisiana.
    6. countableuncountableA village in Allegan County, Michigan.
    7. countableuncountableA census-designated place in Keith County, Nebraska.
    8. countableuncountableA minor city in Sheridan County, North Dakota.
    9. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Clay Township, Ottawa County, Ohio.
    10. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Allendale County, South Carolina.
    11. countableuncountableA small city, the county seat of Bennett County, South Dakota.
    12. countableuncountableA city in Weakley County, Tennessee.
    13. countableuncountableA ghost town and skiing area in Kittitas County, Washington.
    14. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Grant County, West Virginia.
    15. countableuncountableA number of townships, including in Arkansas, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and North Dakota, listed under Martin Township.
    16. countableuncountableA village in Saint-Jean-du-Sud commune, Sud department, Haiti.
    17. countableuncountableA rural municipality in eastern Saskatchewan, Canada; in full, the Rural Municipality of Martin No. 122.
    18. countableuncountableA village and civil parish in New Forest district, Hampshire (OS grid ref SU0619).
    19. countableuncountableA village in Langdon parish, Dover district, Kent (OS grid ref TR3347).
    20. countableuncountableA small village in Roughton parish, East Lindsey district, Lincolnshire (OS grid ref TF2366).
    21. countableuncountableA village and civil parish (served by Martin and Martin Dales Parish Council) in North Kesteven district, Lincolnshire (OS grid ref TF1259).
    22. countableuncountableA village in Našice municipality, Osijek-Baranja, Croatia.
    23. countableuncountableA city and district in Žilina Region, Slovakia.
    24. countableuncountableA suburb of Perth in the City of Gosnells, Western Australia.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
swallow

Origin

martin · noun

  1. Middle Frenchmartin
  2. Englishmartin

From Middle French martin (French martinet).

More words from Middle French

Full word history & related roots →

martin · noun

Variant of marten.

Full word history & related roots →

Martin · proper noun

  1. LatinMārtīnus“of or like Mars” or “little Mars”
  2. Middle EnglishMartin
  3. EnglishMartin

From Middle English Martin, from Latin Mārtīnus (“of or like Mars” or “little Mars”), Mārs, Mārtis + -īnus (diminutive suffix). See Mārs for further etymology.

More words from Middle English, Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek Μᾱρτι̂νος
  • Μᾱρτι̂νος (Mārtînos)given name
Arabic مَارْتِن
  • مَارْتِن (mārtin)given name
Basque Martin
  • Martingiven name
Bulgarian градска лястовица, Мартин
  • градска лястовица (gradska ljastovica)bird
  • Мартинgiven name
Catalan falcillot, Martí
  • falcillotbird
  • Martígiven name
Chinese Cantonese 馬丁 /马丁
  • 馬丁 /马丁 (maa⁵ ding¹)given name
Chinese Mandarin 馬丁 /马丁, 瑪爾定 /玛尔定
  • 馬丁 /马丁 (Mǎdīng)given name
  • 瑪爾定 /玛尔定 (Mǎ'ěrdìng)given name
Czech jiřička, břehule
  • jiřičkabird
  • břehulebird
  • vlaštovkabird
  • Martingiven name
Danish Martin, Morten
  • Martingiven name
  • Mortengiven name
Dutch Martijn, Maarten
  • Martijngiven name
  • Maartengiven name
  • Martinusgiven name
Esperanto Marteno
  • Martenogiven name
Estonian Martin, Mart
  • Martingiven name
  • Martgiven name
Finnish pääsky, Martti
  • pääskybird
  • Marttigiven name
French martinet, Martin
  • martinetbird
  • Martingiven name
German Mehlschwalbe, Martin
  • Mehlschwalbebird
  • Martingiven name
Greek Μαρτίνος, Μάρτιν
  • Μαρτίνος (Martínos)given name
  • Μάρτιν (Mártin)given name
Hebrew מרטין
  • מרטיןgiven name
Hungarian molnárfecske, Márton
  • molnárfecskebird
  • Mártongiven name
Icelandic Marteinn
  • Marteinngiven name
Irish gabhlán, Mártan
  • gabhlánbird
  • Mártangiven name
  • Máirtíngiven name
Italian Martino
  • Martinogiven name
Japanese マーティン
  • マーティン (Mātin)given name
Korean 마틴
  • 마틴 (Matin)given name
Latin Mārtīnus
  • Mārtīnusgiven name
Latvian čurkste, Mārtiņš
  • čurkstebird
  • Mārtiņšgiven name
Lithuanian kregždė, Martynas
  • kregždėbird
  • Martynasgiven name
Māori Mātene
  • Mātenegiven name
Norwegian Bokmål Martin, Morten
  • Martingiven name
  • Mortengiven name
Polish Marcin
  • Marcingiven name
Portuguese andorinha, Martinho
  • andorinhabird
  • Martinhogiven name
  • Martimgiven name
Romanian rândunică de casă, lăstun
  • rândunică de casăbird
  • lăstunbird
  • Martingiven name
Russian городска́я ла́сточка, стриж
  • городска́я ла́сточка (gorodskája lástočka)bird
  • стриж (striž)bird
  • Ма́ртин (Mártin)given name
  • Марты́н (Martýn)given name
Scottish Gaelic gobhlan, Màrtainn
  • gobhlanbird
  • Màrtainngiven name
Spanish avión, Martín
  • aviónbird
  • Martíngiven name
Swedish Martin, Mårten
  • Martingiven name
  • Mårtengiven name
Ukrainian Марти́н
  • Марти́н (Martýn)given name
Vietnamese Martinô, Mạc Tính
  • Martinôgiven name
  • Mạc Tínhgiven name
  • Máctinôgiven name
  • Mạc Ty Nhogiven name

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with martin

martenDiego Martin
All rhymes →

Sounds the same

martenmartenmarten (in some accents)

Anagrams

Antrimmatrinmantri
Cite this entry
APA

martin. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/martin

MLA

“martin.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/martin. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “martin,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/martin.

Source: martin on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.