Meanings
finch1
plural finches
- Any Eurasian goldfinch (of species Carduelis carduelis, syn. Fringilla carduelis).
- Any bird of the family Fringillidae, seed-eating passerine birds, native chiefly to the Northern Hemisphere and usually having a conical beak.
- Any bird of other families of similar appearance to members of family Fringillidae.
- UKdatedslangA woman.
1 more example
"Well, she could have put it across me for that matter if Dodger, who'd seen her up there, didn't happen to call round to do with the business," admitted George simply. "All these finches seem to get themselves up in the same way nowadays, till I can't tell one sort of tart from another. But I suppose there's something you go by."
1934, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], The Bravo of LondonSynonyms: bird
present singular third person finches · participle present finching · participle past finched · past finched
- To hunt for finches, to go finching.
Finch2
- A community and former township in North Stormont, United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, Ontario, Canada.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA woman.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*(s)ping-
- Proto-Indo-European*(s)píngis
- Proto-Germanic*finkiz
- Proto-Indo-European*(s)ping-
- Proto-Germanic*finkô
- Old Englishfinċ
- Middle Englishfynch
- Englishfinch
From Middle English fynch, from Old English finċ, from Proto-West Germanic *finki, from Proto-Germanic *finkiz (compare Dutch vink, German Fink), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pingos (“chaffinch”). Compare Welsh pinc (“finch”), Ancient Greek σπίγγος (spíngos, “chaffinch”), Russian пе́нка (pénka, “wren”), Sanskrit फिङ्गक (phiṅgaka, “drongo, shrike”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek σπίνος, σπίζα
- σπίνος (spínos)any bird of the family Fringillidae
- σπίζα (spíza)any bird of the family Fringillidae
Arabic شُرْشُور, بِرْقِش
- شُرْشُور (šuršūr)any bird of the family Fringillidae
- بِرْقِش (birqiš)any bird of the family Fringillidae
Bulgarian чи́нка
- чи́нка (čínka)any bird of the family Fringillidae
Catalan pinsà, frifrit
- pinsàany bird of the family Fringillidae
- frifritany bird of the family Fringillidae
Chinese Mandarin 燕雀, 雀
- 燕雀 (yànquè)any bird of the family Fringillidae
- 雀 (què)any bird of the family Fringillidae
Czech pěnkava
- pěnkavaany bird of the family Fringillidae
Danish finke
- finkeany bird of the family Fringillidae
Dutch vink
- vinkany bird of the family Fringillidae
Esperanto fringo
- fringoany bird of the family Fringillidae
Estonian vint
- vintany bird of the family Fringillidae
Finnish peippo
- peippoany bird of the family Fringillidae
French pinson
- pinsonany bird of the family Fringillidae
German Fink
- Finkany bird of the family Fringillidae
Greek σπίνος, σπίζα
- σπίνος (spínos)any bird of the family Fringillidae
- σπίζα (spíza)any bird of the family Fringillidae
Hebrew פרוש
- פרושany bird of the family Fringillidae
Hungarian pinty, pintyőke
- pintyany bird of the family Fringillidae
- pintyőkeany bird of the family Fringillidae
Icelandic finka
- finkaany bird of the family Fringillidae
Irish glasán
- glasánany bird of the family Fringillidae
Italian fringuello, canarino
- fringuelloany bird of the family Fringillidae
- canarinoany bird of the family Fringillidae
- cardellinoany bird of the family Fringillidae
Latin fringilla
- fringillaany bird of the family Fringillidae
Latvian Žubīte
- Žubīteany bird of the family Fringillidae
Lithuanian kikilis
- kikilisany bird of the family Fringillidae
Norwegian Bokmål fink, finke
- finkany bird of the family Fringillidae
- finkeany bird of the family Fringillidae
Persian سهره, فنچ
- سهره (sehre)any bird of the family Fringillidae
- فنچ (fenč)any bird of the family Fringillidae
- ونج (venj)any bird of the family Fringillidae
Polish zięba, ziarnojad
- ziębaany bird of the family Fringillidae
- ziarnojadany bird of the family Fringillidae
Portuguese fringilídeo
- fringilídeoany bird of the family Fringillidae
Romanian cinteză, fringilidă
- cintezăany bird of the family Fringillidae
- fringilidăany bird of the family Fringillidae
- fringilidany bird of the family Fringillidae
Russian зя́блик
- зя́блик (zjáblik)any bird of the family Fringillidae
Slovak pinka
- pinkaany bird of the family Fringillidae
Spanish pinzón
- pinzónany bird of the family Fringillidae
Swedish fink
- finkany bird of the family Fringillidae
Turkish ispinoz
- ispinozany bird of the family Fringillidae
Ukrainian зя́блик
- зя́блик (zjáblyk)any bird of the family Fringillidae
Welsh pinc, llinos
- pincany bird of the family Fringillidae
- llinosany bird of the family Fringillidae
- pilaany bird of the family Fringillidae
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with finch
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Cite this entry
finch. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/finch
“finch.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/finch. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “finch,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/finch.
Source: finch on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.