Meanings
nounegret (plural egrets)
plural egrets
- Any of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea that includes herons, many of which are white or buff, and several of which develop fine plumes during the breeding season.
Egrets picked their way through the grass, attentive and showy as fussy girlfriends at the cows' sides.
2011, Jesmyn Ward, Salvage the Bones, Bloomsbury (2017), page 64 - A plume or tuft of feathers worn as a part of a headdress, or anything imitating such an ornament.
Synonyms: aigrette
- obsoleteThe crab-eating macaque (Macaca fascicularis)
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA plume or tuft of feathers worn as a part of a headdress, or anything imitating such an ornament.
Similar
Also see
Origin
- Frankish*haigro“heron”
- Medieval Latinhairo
- Old Occitanaigreta
- Englishegret
From Middle English, from Anglo-Norman egret, aigrette (“egret”), from Old Occitan aigreta, diminutive of aigron (“heron”), from Medieval Latin hairo, from Frankish *haigro (“heron”). Cognate with Old High German heigaro (“heron”), Old English hrāgra (“heron”). Doublet of aigrette. More at heron.
More words from Old Occitan, Medieval Latin, Frankish
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic أَبُو قِرْدَان
- أَبُو قِرْدَان (ʔabū qirdān)Any of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
Bengali বক
- বক (bok)Any of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
Bulgarian бя́ла ча́пла
- бя́ла ча́пла (bjála čápla)Any of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
Catalan agró, martinet
- agróAny of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
- martinetAny of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
Chinese Mandarin 白鷺 /白鹭
- 白鷺 /白鹭 (báilù)Any of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
Czech volavka
- volavkaAny of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
Dutch reiger
- reigerAny of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
Esperanto egreto
- egretoAny of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
Finnish jalohaikara
- jalohaikaraAny of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
French aigrette
- aigretteAny of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
German Reiher
- ReiherAny of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
Greek τσικνιάς, χουλιάρι
- τσικνιάς (tsikniás)Any of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
- χουλιάρι (chouliári)Any of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
Hindi बगुला
- बगुला (bagulā)Any of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
Hungarian kócsag
- kócsagAny of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
Irish éigrit
- éigritAny of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
Italian garzetta, airone guardabuoi
- garzettaAny of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
- airone guardabuoiAny of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
Japanese 白鷺, シラサギ
- 白鷺 (shirasagi)Any of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
- シラサギ (shirasagi)Any of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
Korean 왜가리, 해오라기
- 왜가리 (waegari)Any of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
- 해오라기 (hae'oragi)Any of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
- 백로 (baengno)Any of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
Malay bangau
- bangauAny of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
Persian قار
- قار (qâr)Any of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
Polish czapla
- czaplaAny of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
Portuguese garça
- garçaAny of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
Romanian egretă, stârc alb
- egretăAny of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
- stârc albAny of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
Russian бе́лая ца́пля, ца́пля
- бе́лая ца́пля (bélaja cáplja)Any of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
- ца́пля (cáplja)Any of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
Spanish garza, garceta
- garzaAny of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
- garcetaAny of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
Turkish akbalıkçıl
- akbalıkçılAny of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
Vietnamese cò
- còAny of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
Welsh crëyr, adar y bwn
- crëyrAny of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
- adar y bwnAny of various wading birds of the genera Egretta or Ardea
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with egret
getsetinternetletyetnetdebtpetmetheatforgetthreatjetbetoffsetroulettecassetteresetbrunettecigarettebethgazetteateupset
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
egret. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/egret
MLA
“egret.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/egret. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “egret,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/egret.
Source: egret on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.