Meanings
goldfinch1
plural goldfinches
- Any of several small passerine birds of the finch family
- An American goldfinch (Spinus tristis, syn. Carduelis tristis)
- Lawrence's goldfinch (Spinus lawrencei, syn. Carduelis lawrencei)
- A lesser goldfinch (Spinus psaltria, syn. Carduelis psaltria).
- UKobsoleteslangA sovereign (the coin).
Goldfinch2
- A surname.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAmerican finch whose male has yellow body plumage in summer
nounsmall European finch having a crimson face and yellow-and-black wings
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Englishgoldfinċ
- Middle Englishgoldfinch
- Englishgoldfinch
From Middle English goldfinch, goldfynch, goldefynch, from Old English goldfinċ, equivalent to gold + finch. Compare West Frisian goudfink (“goldfinch”), Dutch goudvink (“bullfinch”), German Goldfink (“goldfinch”), Danish guldfink (“goldfinch”), Icelandic gullfinka (“goldfinch”).
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἀκανθίς
- ἀκανθίς (akanthís)any of several passerine birds
Arabic حَسُّون
- حَسُّون (ḥassūn)any of several passerine birds
Bulgarian кадънка, щиглец
- кадънка (kadănka)any of several passerine birds
- щиглец (štiglec)any of several passerine birds
- калдарина (kaldarina)any of several passerine birds
Catalan cadernera
- caderneraany of several passerine birds
Chinese Mandarin 金翅雀, 紅額金翅雀屬 /红额金翅雀属
- 金翅雀 (jīnchìquè)any of several passerine birds
- 紅額金翅雀屬 /红额金翅雀属 (hóng'éjīnchìquè shǔ)any of several passerine birds
Czech stehlík
- stehlíkany of several passerine birds
Danish stillids, stillits
- stillidsany of several passerine birds
- stillitsany of several passerine birds
Estonian ohakalind
- ohakalindany of several passerine birds
Finnish tikli, amerikantikli
- tikliany of several passerine birds
- amerikantikliany of several passerine birds
French chardonneret
- chardonneretany of several passerine birds
German Stieglitz
- Stieglitzany of several passerine birds
Greek ακανθίς, ακανθυλίς
- ακανθίς (akanthís)any of several passerine birds
- ακανθυλίς (akanthylís)any of several passerine birds
- καρδερίνα (karderína)any of several passerine birds
- γαρδέλι (gardéli)any of several passerine birds
Hungarian tengelic
- tengelicany of several passerine birds
Irish coinnleoir Muire
- coinnleoir Muireany of several passerine birds
Italian cardellino
- cardellinoany of several passerine birds
Japanese ゴシキヒワ
- ゴシキヒワ (goshikihiwa)any of several passerine birds
Latin carduelis
- carduelisany of several passerine birds
Latvian dadzītis
- dadzītisany of several passerine birds
Lithuanian dagilis
- dagilisany of several passerine birds
Polish szczygieł
- szczygiełany of several passerine birds
Portuguese pintassilgo
- pintassilgoany of several passerine birds
Romanian sticlete
- sticleteany of several passerine birds
Russian щего́л
- щего́л (ščegól)any of several passerine birds
Scottish Gaelic deargan-fraoich, lasair-choille
- deargan-fraoichany of several passerine birds
- lasair-choilleany of several passerine birds
- buidheagany of several passerine birds
Slovak stehlík
- stehlíkany of several passerine birds
Spanish jilguero, cardelino
- jilgueroany of several passerine birds
- cardelinoany of several passerine birds
Swedish steglits
- steglitsany of several passerine birds
Tagalog kardelina
- kardelinaany of several passerine birds
Turkish saka kuşu, saka
- saka kuşuany of several passerine birds
- sakaany of several passerine birds
- ökse kuşuany of several passerine birds
- bülbülany of several passerine birds
Ukrainian щи́глик, щиго́ль
- щи́глик (ščýhlyk)any of several passerine birds
- щиго́ль (ščyhólʹ)any of several passerine birds
Welsh nico
- nicoany of several passerine birds
Cite this entry
goldfinch. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/goldfinch
“goldfinch.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/goldfinch. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “goldfinch,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/goldfinch.
Source: goldfinch on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.