Meanings
plural blackbirds
- A common true thrush, Turdus merula, found in woods and gardens over much of Eurasia, and introduced elsewhere.
Synonyms: common blackbird, Eurasian blackbird, merle, merl, ouzel
- derogatoryhistoricalslangamong slavers and piratesA native of the South Pacific islands.
present singular third person blackbirds · participle present blackbirding · participle past blackbirded · past blackbirded
- To enslave someone, especially through chicanery or force
“At the same time, island communities — especially in coastal areas, where the effect of population loss was often enormous — sometimes retaliated against blackbirding raids.”
2000, Kate Fortune, Brij V. Lal, The Pacific Islands: An Encyclopedia – Volume 1, University of Hawaiʻi, →ISBN, page 208
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA common true thrush, Turdus merula, found in woods and gardens over much of Eurasia, and introduced elsewhere.
nounA variety of New World birds of the family Icteridae (26 species of icterid bird).
More synonyms by meaning
nounany bird of the family Icteridae whose male is black or predominantly black
nouncommon black European thrush
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishblakebird
- Englishblackbird
From Middle English blakebird, blacbrid (“ouzel; Eurasian blackbird”), equivalent to black + bird.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek κόσσυφος
- κόσσυφος (kóssuphos)Turdus merula: blackbird
Arabic شُحْرُور
- شُحْرُور (šuḥrūr)Turdus merula: blackbird
Basque zozo
- zozoTurdus merula: blackbird
Bulgarian кос
- кос (kos)Turdus merula: blackbird
Catalan merla, tord negre
- merlaTurdus merula: blackbird
- tord negreTurdus merula: blackbird
Chinese Mandarin 山鳥 /山鸟, 烏鶇 /乌鸫
- 山鳥 /山鸟 (shānniǎo)Turdus merula: blackbird
- 烏鶇 /乌鸫 (wūdōng)Turdus merula: blackbird
- 黑鸝 /黑鹂 (hēilí)bird of the family Icteridae
Czech kos, kos černý
- kosTurdus merula: blackbird
- kos černýTurdus merula: blackbird
Danish solsort
- solsortTurdus merula: blackbird
Dutch merel, troepiaal
- merelTurdus merula: blackbird
- troepiaalbird of the family Icteridae
Esperanto merlo
- merloTurdus merula: blackbird
Estonian musträstas
- musträstasTurdus merula: blackbird
Finnish mustarastas, turpiaali
- mustarastasTurdus merula: blackbird
- turpiaalibird of the family Icteridae
French merle, merlesse
- merleTurdus merula: blackbird
- merlesseTurdus merula: blackbird
German Amsel, Schwarzdrossel
- AmselTurdus merula: blackbird
- SchwarzdrosselTurdus merula: blackbird
Greek κότσυφας
- κότσυφας (kótsyfas)Turdus merula: blackbird
Hebrew שחרור
- שחרור (shakharúr)Turdus merula: blackbird
Hungarian fekete rigó
- fekete rigóTurdus merula: blackbird
Icelandic svartþröstur
- svartþrösturTurdus merula: blackbird
Irish lon dubh, céirseach
- lon dubhTurdus merula: blackbird
- céirseachTurdus merula: blackbird
Italian merlo
- merloTurdus merula: blackbird
Japanese 黒歌鳥
- 黒歌鳥 (kuroutadori)Turdus merula: blackbird
Korean 대륙검은지빠귀
- 대륙검은지빠귀 (daeryukgeomeunjippagwi)Turdus merula: blackbird
Latin merula
- merulaTurdus merula: blackbird
Latvian melnais meža strazds
- melnais meža strazdsTurdus merula: blackbird
Lithuanian juodasis strazdas
- juodasis strazdasTurdus merula: blackbird
Louisiana French tchoc
- tchocTurdus merula: blackbird
Norwegian Bokmål svarttrost
- svarttrostTurdus merula: blackbird
Polish kos, kos zwyczajny
- kosTurdus merula: blackbird
- kos zwyczajnyTurdus merula: blackbird
Portuguese melro, melro-preto
- melroTurdus merula: blackbird
- melro-pretoTurdus merula: blackbird
Romanian mierlă
- mierlăTurdus merula: blackbird
Russian чёрный дрозд, трупиал
- чёрный дрозд (čórnyj drozd)Turdus merula: blackbird
- трупиал (trupial)bird of the family Icteridae
- кассик (kassik)bird of the family Icteridae
- желтушник (želtušnik)bird of the family Icteridae
- американская иволга (amerikanskaja ivolga)bird of the family Icteridae
Scottish Gaelic lon, lon-dubh
- lonTurdus merula: blackbird
- lon-dubhTurdus merula: blackbird
Slovak drozd čierny
- drozd čiernyTurdus merula: blackbird
Spanish mirlo, turpial
- mirloTurdus merula: blackbird
- turpialbird of the family Icteridae
- soldaditobird of the family Icteridae
Swedish koltrast
- koltrastTurdus merula: blackbird
Turkish karatavuk
- karatavukTurdus merula: blackbird
Ukrainian чо́рний дрізд
- чо́рний дрізд (čórnyj drizd)Turdus merula: blackbird
Vietnamese hạch thước điẻu
- hạch thước điẻuTurdus merula: blackbird
Welsh mwyalch, mwyalchen
- mwyalchTurdus merula: blackbird
- mwyalchenTurdus merula: blackbird
- adar duTurdus merula: blackbird
Cite this entry
blackbird. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blackbird
“blackbird.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blackbird. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “blackbird,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blackbird.
Source: blackbird on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.