chaffinch

C3H4A1F4F4I1N1C3H4
/ˈt͡ʃæfɪnt͡ʃ/

noun

A small passerine bird, Fringilla coelebs, of the finch family, found throughout Europe and eastward to Iran and eastern Mediterranean coastlands.

Similar
Fringilla coelebs
OriginMiddle English chaffynch →
UncommonScrabble 25
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Meanings

nounchaffinch (plural chaffinches)

plural chaffinches

  1. A small passerine bird, Fringilla coelebs, of the finch family, found throughout Europe and eastward to Iran and eastern Mediterranean coastlands.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounsmall European finch with a cheerful song

Similar
Fringilla coelebs
Broader
finch
Also see
common chaffinch

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Middle Englishchaffynch
  2. Englishchaffinch

From Middle English chaffynch, chaffynche, caffynche, equivalent to chaff + finch. However, more recently the first element has been argued to derive from the same root as Old English cæfed (“ornamented”) and cæfing (“hair-ornament”), thus meaning "ornamented finch, colourful finch".

More words from Middle English

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek σπίζα, σπίνος
  • σπίζα (spíza)bird
  • σπίνος (spínos)bird
Bulgarian сипка
  • сипка (sipka)bird
Catalan pinsà
  • pinsàbird
Chinese Mandarin 蒼頭燕雀 /苍头燕雀
  • 蒼頭燕雀 /苍头燕雀 (cāngtóu yànquè)bird
Czech pěnkava
  • pěnkavabird
Danish bogfinke
  • bogfinkebird
Dutch vink, boekvink
  • vinkbird
  • boekvinkbird
Esperanto fringo
  • fringobird
Finnish peippo
  • peippobird
French pinson, pinson des arbres
  • pinsonbird
  • pinson des arbresbird
German Buchfink
  • Buchfinkbird
Hungarian erdei pinty
  • erdei pintybird
Icelandic bókfinka
  • bókfinkabird
Irish rí rua
  • rí ruabird
Italian fringuello
  • fringuellobird
Japanese 頭青花鶏
  • 頭青花鶏 (zuao atori)bird
Korean 푸른머리되새
  • 푸른머리되새 (pureunmeoridoesae)bird
Latvian žubīte
  • žubītebird
Lithuanian kikilis
  • kikilisbird
Māori pahirini
  • pahirinibird
Norwegian Bokmål bokfink
  • bokfinkbird
Polish zięba
  • ziębabird
Portuguese tentilhão, chupim
  • tentilhãobird
  • chupimbird
Romanian cinteză
  • cintezăbird
Russian зя́блик
  • зя́блик (zjáblik)bird
Scottish Gaelic breacan-beithe
  • breacan-beithebird
Slovak pinka
  • pinkabird
Spanish pinzón vulgar
  • pinzón vulgarbird
Swedish bofink
  • bofinkbird
Turkish ispinoz
  • ispinozbird
Ukrainian зя́блик
  • зя́блик (zjáblyk)bird
Welsh asgell fraith
  • asgell fraithbird
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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