Meanings
plural birds of paradise · alternative bird-of-paradise
- Any of various passerine birds of the family Paradisaeidae native to Oceania. In many of the species the breeding plumage of the males is brightly coloured.
She had a jonquil silk pelisse, a bonnet of the same colour, with a bird of paradise plume, looking very much like an illuminated butterfly.
1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIV, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 187Synonyms: paradise bird
- A showy tropical flower of the genus Strelitzia, native to South Africa.
Synonyms: bird of paradise flower, bird of paradise plant, crane flower, crane lily
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAny of various passerine birds of the family Paradisaeidae native to Oceania. In many of the species the breeding plumage of the males is brightly coloured.
nounA showy tropical flower of the genus Strelitzia, native to South Africa.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna tropical flowering shrub having bright orange or red flowers; sometimes placed in genus Poinciana
nounornamental plant of tropical South Africa and South America having stalks of orange and purplish-blue flowers resembling a bird
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
The first Europeans to encounter their skins were the voyagers in Ferdinand Magellan's circumnavigation of the Earth. Antonio Pigafetta wrote that "The people told us that those birds came from the terrestrial paradise, and they call them bolon diuata, that is to say, 'birds of God"." "Bolon diuata" appears to be closer to Malay burung (“a bird”) and dewata (“a god”).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan ocell del paradís, flor d'ocell
- ocell del paradísbird
- flor d'ocellflower
Chinese Mandarin 極樂鳥 /极乐鸟, 天堂鳥 /天堂鸟
- 極樂鳥 /极乐鸟 (jílèniǎo)bird
- 天堂鳥 /天堂鸟 (tiāntángniǎo)bird
- 風鳥 /风鸟 (fēngniǎo)bird
- 鶴望蘭 /鹤望兰 (hèwànglán)flower
- 天堂鳥花 /天堂鸟花 (tiāntángniǎo-huā)flower
Czech rajka, strelicie
- rajkabird
- strelicieflower
Danish paradisfugl
- paradisfuglbird
Dutch paradijsvogel
- paradijsvogelbird
Finnish paratiisilintu, kolibrikukka
- paratiisilintubird
- kolibrikukkaflower
French paradisier, oiseau de paradis
- paradisierbird
- oiseau de paradisbird
German Paradiesvogel, Paradiesvogelblume
- Paradiesvogelbird
- Paradiesvogelblumeflower
- Strelitzieflower
Indonesian cenderawasih
- cenderawasihbird
Irish éan parthais
- éan parthaisbird
Italian paradisea
- paradiseabird
Japanese 風鳥, 極楽鳥
- 風鳥 (fūchō)bird
- 極楽鳥 (gokuraku-chō)bird
- 極楽鳥花 (gokurakuchō-ka)flower
- ストレリチア (sutorerichia)flower
- バード オブ パラダイス (bādo obu paradaisu)flower
Malay cenderawasih
- cenderawasihbird
Norwegian Bokmål paradisfugl
- paradisfuglbird
Polish rajski ptak, cudowronka
- rajski ptakbird
- cudowronkabird
Portuguese ave-do-paraíso, estrelítzia
- ave-do-paraísobird
- estrelítziaflower
Romanian pasărea paradisului, pasărea paradisului
- pasărea paradisuluibird
- pasărea paradisuluiflower
Russian ра́йская пти́ца, стрели́ция
- ра́йская пти́ца (rájskaja ptíca)bird
- стрели́ция (strelícija)flower
- стрели́тция (strelítcija)flower
Spanish ave del paraíso, ave del paraíso
- ave del paraísobird
- ave del paraísoflower
Swedish paradisfågel
- paradisfågelbird
Tagalog ibon ng paraiso
- ibon ng paraisobird
Turkish cennet kuşu
- cennet kuşubird
Vietnamese chim thiên đường, thiên điểu
- chim thiên đườngbird
- thiên điểuflower
- chim thiên đườngflower
Cite this entry
bird of paradise. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bird%20of%20paradise
“bird of paradise.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bird%20of%20paradise. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bird of paradise,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bird%20of%20paradise.
Source: bird of paradise on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.