Meanings
heron1
plural herons
- Any long-legged, long-necked wading bird of the family Ardeidae.
Heron2
- A surname.
Origin
heron · noun
- Proto-Indo-European*(s)kreik-
- Proto-Germanic*haigrô
- Proto-West Germanic*hraigrō
- Medieval Latinhairō
- Anglo-Normanheiron
- Middle Englishheron
- Englishheron
From Middle English heron, heroun, heiron, from Anglo-Norman heiron, from Medieval Latin hairō, from Frankish and Proto-West Germanic *hraigrō, from Proto-Germanic *haigrô (compare Swedish häger and Danish hejre), dissimilation of *hraigrô (compare Old English hrāgra, Dutch reiger, German Reiher), from imitative Proto-Indo-European *(s)kreik-, *(s)kreig- (“to screech, creak”) (compare Welsh crëyr (“heron”), Ancient Greek κρίζω (krízō, “to creak, screech”). Compare also egret from the same Germanic etymon.
More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →Heron · proper noun
- Old Englishharum
- EnglishHeron
* As an English and French surname, from heron. * As an English surname, from Harome in Yorkshire, from Old English harum, dative plural of hær (“stone”) * As an Irish surname, from O'Heron, from Ó hUidhrín (literally “descendant of Uidhrín”), from odhar (“swarthy”). * As an Irish surname, from Ó hEaráin; see Haren. * As an Irish surname, from Mac Giolla Chiaráin (literally “son of the servant of Ciarán”); see Kieran.
More words from Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans reier
- reierbird
Ancient Greek ἐρῳδιός
- ἐρῳδιός (erōidiós)bird
Arabic مَالِكُ الحَزِين, بَلَشُون
- مَالِكُ الحَزِين (māliku l-ḥazīn)bird
- بَلَشُون (balašūn)bird
Basque lertxun, koartza
- lertxunbird
- koartzabird
Bulgarian ча́пла
- ча́пла (čápla)bird
Catalan agró, bernat pescaire
- agróbird
- bernat pescairebird
Chinese Mandarin 蒼鷺 /苍鹭, 鷺 /鹭
- 蒼鷺 /苍鹭 (cānglù)bird
- 鷺 /鹭 (lù)bird
Czech volavka
- volavkabird
Danish hejre
- hejrebird
Dutch reiger
- reigerbird
Esperanto ardeo
- ardeobird
Estonian haigur
- haigurbird
Finnish haikara
- haikarabird
French héron
- héronbird
German Reiher
- Reiherbird
Greek ερωδιός, αρδέα
- ερωδιός (erodiós)bird
- αρδέα (ardéa)bird
- τσικνιάς (tsikniás)bird
Hebrew אֲנָפָה
- אֲנָפָה (anafá)bird
Hindi वगुला, बगला
- वगुला (vagulā)bird
- बगला (baglā)bird
- बगुला (bagulā)bird
- बक (bak)bird
Hungarian gém
- gémbird
Icelandic hegri
- hegribird
Indonesian kuntul, kowak
- kuntulbird
- kowakbird
- cangakbird
Irish corr
- corrbird
Italian airone
- aironebird
Japanese 鷺, サギ
- 鷺 (sagi)bird
- サギ (sagi)bird
- 白鷺 (shirasagi)bird
- シラサギ (shirasagi)bird
Korean 왜가리, 해오라기
- 왜가리 (waegari)bird
- 해오라기 (hae'oragi)bird
- 백로 (baengno)bird
Latin ardea, ardeola
- ardeabird
- ardeolabird
Latvian gārnis
- gārnisbird
Lithuanian garnys
- garnysbird
Malay pucung
- pucungbird
Māori heroni
- heronibird
Norwegian hegre, heire
- hegrebird
- heirebird
Persian حواصیل, بوتیمار
- حواصیل (havâsil)bird
- بوتیمار (butimâr)bird
- چگرنه (čegarne)bird
Polish czapla
- czaplabird
Portuguese garça
- garçabird
Romanian stârc, bâtlan
- stârcbird
- bâtlanbird
Russian ца́пля
- ца́пля (cáplja)bird
Scottish Gaelic corra-ghritheach
- corra-ghritheachbird
Slovak volavka
- volavkabird
Spanish garza
- garzabird
Swedish häger
- hägerbird
Tagalog tagák, bakaw
- tagákbird
- bakawbird
- garsabird
Thai นกยาง
- นกยาง (nók yaang)bird
Turkish balıkçıl
- balıkçılbird
Ukrainian ча́пля
- ча́пля (čáplja)bird
Vietnamese diệc
- diệcbird
Welsh crëyr, crychydd
- crëyrbird
- crychyddbird
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with heron
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
heron. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heron
“heron.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heron. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “heron,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heron.
Source: heron on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.