flamingo

F4L1A1M3I1N1G2O1
US/fləˈmɪŋɡoʊ/

noun

A wading bird of the family Phoenicopteridae of the order Phoenicopteriformes.

Less commonScrabble 14

Meanings

nounflamingo (countable and uncountable, plural flamingos or flamingoes)

plural flamingos · plural flamingoes

  1. countableA wading bird of the family Phoenicopteridae of the order Phoenicopteriformes.

    After Nakuru the light remains only long enough to see the Lake Nakuru, away to the south, with its fringe of pink flamingos, and as the darkness falls the old main line to Kisumu branches to the left.

    1950 April, Timothy H. Cobb, “The Kenya-Uganda Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 266

    Synonyms: phenicopter

  2. countableuncountableA deep pink color tinged with orange, like that of a flamingo.
adjectiveflamingo (not comparable)
  1. not comparableOf a deep pink color tinged with orange, like that of a flamingo.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA wading bird of the family Phoenicopteridae of the order Phoenicopteriformes.

Origin

  1. Latinflamma“flame”
  2. Catalanflamenc“flamingo”
  3. Spanishflamenco“flamingo”
  4. Portugueseflamengo“flamingo”
  5. Englishflamingo

From Portuguese flamengo (“flamingo”) and Spanish flamenco (“flamingo”), which were adapted from Catalan flamenc (“flamingo”), of disputed ultimate origin in this sense. All three forms are used adjectivally as an ethnonym meaning 'Flemish' (of Germanic origin, cognate to English Fleming); Spanish flamenco refers also to a dance type. Compare also French flamant (“flamingo”). *The bird's name may derive from the ethnonym by an association of a ruddy complexion or hair color with the Flemings; this etymology is supported by Corominas. (In Spanish, flamenco can be used colloquially as an adjective meaning "robust, healthy-looking".) * Alternatively, the dance flamenco, the bird name, or both come from attaching the same Germanic-derived ending found in the ethnonym to the distinct root of Latin flamma (“flame”): i.e. Catalan flamenc has been analyzed as flama (“flame”) + -enc. Compare also Portuguese -engo.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans flamink
  • flaminkbird
Ancient Greek φοινικόπτερος
  • φοινικόπτερος (phoinikópteros)bird
Arabic بَشْرُوش, نُحَام
  • بَشْرُوش (bašrūš)bird
  • نُحَام (nuḥām)bird
  • فْلَامِينْجُو (flamingo)bird
Bulgarian фламинго
  • фламинго (flamingo)bird
Catalan flamenc
  • flamencbird
Chinese Cantonese 紅鸛 /红鹳, 火烈鳥 /火烈鸟
  • 紅鸛 /红鹳bird
  • 火烈鳥 /火烈鸟 (fo² lit⁶ niu⁵)bird
  • 紅鶴 /红鹤bird
Chinese Mandarin 火鶴 /火鹤, 火烈鳥 /火烈鸟
  • 火鶴 /火鹤 (huǒhè)bird
  • 火烈鳥 /火烈鸟 (huǒlièniǎo)bird
  • 紅鶴 /红鹤 (hónghè)bird
Czech plameňák
  • plameňákbird
Danish flamingo
  • flamingobird
Dutch flamingo
  • flamingobird
Esperanto flamengo, fenikoptero
  • flamengobird
  • fenikopterobird
Estonian flamingo
  • flamingobird
Finnish flamingo, flamingonpunainen
  • flamingobird
  • flamingonpunainencolour
French flamant, phénicoptère
  • flamantbird
  • phénicoptèrebird
German Flamingo
  • Flamingobird
Greek φοινικόπτερος, φλαμίνγκο
  • φοινικόπτερος (foinikópteros)bird
  • φλαμίνγκο (flamíngko)bird
Hebrew פְלָמִינְגּוֹ, שְׁקִיטָן
  • פְלָמִינְגּוֹbird
  • שְׁקִיטָןbird
Hindi राजहंस
  • राजहंस (rājhans)bird
Hungarian flamingó
  • flamingóbird
Icelandic flamingói, flæmingi
  • flamingóibird
  • flæmingibird
Indonesian flamingo
  • flamingobird
Italian fenicottero
  • fenicotterobird
Japanese フラミンゴ, 紅鶴
  • フラミンゴ (furamingo)bird
  • 紅鶴 (benizuru)bird
Korean 홍학, 플라밍고
  • 홍학 (honghak)bird
  • 플라밍고 (peullaminggo)bird
Latin phoenicopterus
  • phoenicopterusbird
Lithuanian flamingas
  • flamingasbird
Malay flamingo
  • flamingobird
Norwegian flamingo
  • flamingobird
Persian قاز سرخ, فلامینگو
  • قاز سرخ (qaz-e sorx)bird
  • فلامینگو (felâmingo)bird
  • مرغ آتشی (morγ-e ātaši)bird
Polish flaming, czerwonak
  • flamingbird
  • czerwonakbird
Portuguese flamingo
  • flamingobird
Romanian flamingo
  • flamingobird
Russian флами́нго
  • флами́нго (flamíngo)bird
Slovak plameniak
  • plameniakbird
Spanish flamenco
  • flamencobird
Swahili heroe
  • heroebird
Swedish flamingo
  • flamingobird
Tagalog plamengko
  • plamengkobird
Thai นกฟลามิงโก
  • นกฟลามิงโกbird
Turkish allı turna, flamingo
  • allı turnabird
  • flamingobird
  • Flaman kuşubird
Ukrainian фламі́нго, фламі́нґо
  • фламі́нго (flamínho)bird
  • фламі́нґо (flamíngo)bird
Vietnamese hồng hạc
  • hồng hạcbird
Welsh fflamingo
  • fflamingobird
Yiddish פֿלאַמינגאָ
  • פֿלאַמינגאָ (flamingo)bird
Zulu unondwebu class 1a/2a, ukholwase class 1a/2a
  • unondwebu class 1a/2abird
  • ukholwase class 1a/2abird
  • ikholwase class 5a/6abird

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with flamingo

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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