Meanings
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA bird of the genus Coloeus, similar in appearance to crows and found within the same family; traditionally associated with church towers and ruins, where it frequently likes to nest.
More synonyms by meaning
nouncommon black-and-grey Eurasian bird noted for thievery
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-West Germanic*dāhwā
- Old English*dāwe
- Englishjackdaw
Compound of jack + daw. The first element, also present in Low German (North Saxon) Jöker (“jackdaw”), may refer either to its characteristic call, often represented as tchak-tchak, maybe influenced by association with the name Jack. The second element means “jackdaw” in itself, from Old English *dāwe, from Proto-West Germanic *dāhwā. Cognate with Old Prussian doacke (“starling”), Latin faccilāre (“the sound or timbre of the thrush”), and German Dohle (“jackdaw”).
More words from Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek κολοιός
- κολοιός (koloiós)bird of the genus Coloeus
Basque bele txiki
- bele txikibird of the genus Coloeus
Bulgarian ча́вка
- ча́вка (čávka)bird of the genus Coloeus
Catalan cucala, gralla
- cucalabird of the genus Coloeus
- grallabird of the genus Coloeus
Chinese Mandarin 寒鴉 /寒鸦
- 寒鴉 /寒鸦 (hányā)bird of the genus Coloeus
Czech kavka
- kavkabird of the genus Coloeus
Danish allike
- allikebird of the genus Coloeus
Dutch kauw, torenkraai
- kauwbird of the genus Coloeus
- torenkraaibird of the genus Coloeus
Esperanto monedo
- monedobird of the genus Coloeus
Estonian hakk
- hakkbird of the genus Coloeus
Finnish naakka
- naakkabird of the genus Coloeus
French choucas
- choucasbird of the genus Coloeus
German Dohle
- Dohlebird of the genus Coloeus
Greek κάργια, καλιακούδα
- κάργια (kárgia)bird of the genus Coloeus
- καλιακούδα (kaliakoúda)bird of the genus Coloeus
Hebrew קָאָק
- קָאָק (ḳāʼāḳ)bird of the genus Coloeus
Hungarian csóka
- csókabird of the genus Coloeus
Icelandic dvergkráka
- dvergkrákabird of the genus Coloeus
Irish cág
- cágbird of the genus Coloeus
Italian taccola
- taccolabird of the genus Coloeus
Japanese 西黒丸鴉, 黒丸鴉
- 西黒丸鴉 (nishikokumarugarasu)bird of the genus Coloeus
- 黒丸鴉 (kokumarugarasu)bird of the genus Coloeus
Korean 서양갈까마귀, 갈까마귀
- 서양갈까마귀 (seoyanggalkkamagwi)bird of the genus Coloeus
- 갈까마귀 (galkkamagwi)bird of the genus Coloeus
Latin monēdula, grāculus
- monēdulabird of the genus Coloeus
- grāculusbird of the genus Coloeus
Latvian kovārnis
- kovārnisbird of the genus Coloeus
Lithuanian kuosa
- kuosabird of the genus Coloeus
Norwegian Bokmål kaie
- kaiebird of the genus Coloeus
Persian زاغچه
- زاغچه (zâġče)bird of the genus Coloeus
Polish kawka
- kawkabird of the genus Coloeus
Portuguese cuneta, chuca
- cunetabird of the genus Coloeus
- chucabird of the genus Coloeus
Romanian stăncuță
- stăncuțăbird of the genus Coloeus
Russian га́лка
- га́лка (gálka)bird of the genus Coloeus
Scottish Gaelic cadhag, cathag
- cadhagbird of the genus Coloeus
- cathagbird of the genus Coloeus
Slovak kavka
- kavkabird of the genus Coloeus
Spanish grajilla
- grajillabird of the genus Coloeus
Swedish kaja, alika
- kajabird of the genus Coloeus
- alikabird of the genus Coloeus
Turkish küçük karga
- küçük kargabird of the genus Coloeus
Ukrainian га́лка
- га́лка (hálka)bird of the genus Coloeus
Welsh jac-y-do, jac-do
- jac-y-dobird of the genus Coloeus
- jac-dobird of the genus Coloeus
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
jackdaw. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jackdaw
“jackdaw.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jackdaw. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “jackdaw,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jackdaw.
Source: jackdaw on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.