Meanings
plural fantails
- Any of several birds, of the genus Rhipidura, from Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
- Any of several domestic varieties of pigeon having a fan-shaped tail.
- Any of several goldfish having a large fan-shaped tail.
- nauticalAn overhanging deck at the stern of a ship.
The Paranoids cast off, backed the Godzilla II out from the pier, turned and with a concerted whoop took off like a bat out of hell, nearly sending Di Presso over the fantail.
1966 March, Thomas Pynchon, chapter 3, in The Crying of Lot 49, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, published November 1976, →ISBN, page 38
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- translingualRhipidura
- Englishfantail
From fan + tail. The sense of Rhipidura-genus birds is a calque of translingual Rhipidura.
More words from translingual
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan cua de ventall
- cua de ventallbird of the genus Rhipidura
Finnish viuhkamonarkki
- viuhkamonarkkibird of the genus Rhipidura
German Fächerschwanz
- Fächerschwanzbird of the genus Rhipidura
Polish gołąb pawik
- gołąb pawikbird of the genus Rhipidura
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
fantail. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fantail
“fantail.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fantail. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fantail,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fantail.
Source: fantail on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.