Meanings
plural dotterels
- A small brown-and-black bird of species Charadrius morinellus, of the plover family.First known use 15th c.
Synonyms: Eurasian dotterel
- AustraliaNew ZealandAny of various small birds of Australasia thought to resemble the Eurasian dotterel.First known use 19th c.
comparative more dotterel · superlative most dotterel
- decayed
some old dotterel trees
c. 1570, Roger Ascham, The Scholemaster
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA gullible fool, especially an elderly person with impaired faculties.
nounA small brown-and-black bird of species Charadrius morinellus, of the plover family.
More synonyms by meaning
nounrare plover of upland areas of Eurasia
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
15th century. From dote (“to be foolish; senile”) + -rel (“pejorative suffix”). The bird is so named as it is easy to catch.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian планински дъждосвирец
- планински дъждосвирец (planinski dăždosvirec)bird in the plover family Charadriidae
Chinese Mandarin 小嘴鴴 /小嘴鸻
- 小嘴鴴 /小嘴鸻 (xiǎozuǐhéng)bird in the plover family Charadriidae
Dutch morinelplevier
- morinelplevierbird in the plover family Charadriidae
Finnish kurmitsa, kapustarinta
- kurmitsabird in the plover family Charadriidae
- kapustarintabird in the plover family Charadriidae
- tyllibird in the plover family Charadriidae
Greek βουνοσφυριχτής
- βουνοσφυριχτής (vounosfyrichtís)bird in the plover family Charadriidae
Hungarian lile
- lilebird in the plover family Charadriidae
Irish amadán móinteach
- amadán móinteachbird in the plover family Charadriidae
Māori kūkuruatu, tūturiwhatu
- kūkuruatubird in the plover family Charadriidae
- tūturiwhatubird in the plover family Charadriidae
- pohowerabird in the plover family Charadriidae
Polish sieweczka
- sieweczkabird in the plover family Charadriidae
Portuguese borrelho
- borrelhobird in the plover family Charadriidae
Romanian prundăraș de munte, ploier de munte
- prundăraș de muntebird in the plover family Charadriidae
- ploier de muntebird in the plover family Charadriidae
Russian ржа́нка, хрустан
- ржа́нка (ržánka)bird in the plover family Charadriidae
- хрустан (xrustan)bird in the plover family Charadriidae
Scottish Gaelic amadan-mòintich
- amadan-mòintichbird in the plover family Charadriidae
Spanish chorlito carambolo
- chorlito carambolobird in the plover family Charadriidae
Turkish kalinis
- kalinisbird in the plover family Charadriidae
Cite this entry
dotterel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dotterel
“dotterel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dotterel. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dotterel,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dotterel.
Source: dotterel on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.