Meanings
kingfisher1
nounkingfisher (plural kingfishers)
plural kingfishers · alternative obsolete king's fisher
- Any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines (or the family Alcedinidae sensu lato), having a large head, short tail and brilliant colouration; they feed mostly on fish.
Kingfisher2
proper noun
- A city, the county seat of Kingfisher County, Oklahoma, United States.
Origin
kingfisher · noun
- Middle Englishkyngys fyschare
- Englishkingfisher
Originally king's fisher, from Middle English kyngys fyschare; equivalent to king + fisher. So named for obscure reasons.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Kingfisher · proper noun
Either after a person named King Fisher, or a combination of the surnames King and Fisher.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἀλκυών
- ἀλκυών (alkuṓn)any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Arabic سَلْدَج, قِرِلَّى
- سَلْدَج (saldaj)any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
- قِرِلَّى (qirillā)any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
- رَفْرَاف (rafrāf)any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Basque martin arrantzale
- martin arrantzaleany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Bengali মাছরাঙা
- মাছরাঙা (machraṅa)any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Bulgarian синьо рибарче
- синьо рибарче (sinjo ribarče)any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Catalan blauet, arner
- blauetany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
- arnerany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
- alcióany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
- botiguerany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Chinese Mandarin 翠鳥 /翠鸟, 魚狗 /鱼狗
- 翠鳥 /翠鸟 (cuìniǎo)any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
- 魚狗 /鱼狗 (yúgǒu)any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
- 翡翠 (fěicuì)any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
- 翡 (fěi)any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Czech ledňáček
- ledňáčekany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Danish isfugl
- isfuglany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Dutch ijsvogel
- ijsvogelany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Esperanto alcedo, alciono
- alcedoany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
- alcionoany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Finnish kuningaskalastaja
- kuningaskalastajaany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
French martin-pêcheur
- martin-pêcheurany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
German Eisvogel
- Eisvogelany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Greek αλκυόνη
- αλκυόνη (alkyóni)any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Hawaiian pakūkaʻā
- pakūkaʻāany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Hebrew שַׁלְדָּג
- שַׁלְדָּג (shaldág)any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Hungarian jégmadár
- jégmadárany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Icelandic bláþyrill
- bláþyrillany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Indonesian raja-udang
- raja-udangany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Irish cruidín
- cruidínany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Italian martin pescatore
- martin pescatoreany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Japanese カワセミ, 翡翠
- カワセミ (kawasemi)any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
- 翡翠 (kawasemi)any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
- 魚狗 (kawasemi)any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
- 川蝉 (kawasemi)any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
- ヒスイ (hisui)any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
- 翡翠 (hisui)any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
- ショウビン (shōbin)any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
- 翡翠 (shōbin)any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Latin alcēdō, halcēdō
- alcēdōany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
- halcēdōany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
- alcyōnany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
- halcyōnany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Latvian zivju dzenītis
- zivju dzenītisany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Malay raja udang
- raja udangany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Māori kōtare
- kōtareany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Persian ماهیخورک
- ماهیخورک (mâhi-xwark)any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Polish zimorodek
- zimorodekany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Portuguese martim-pescador, guarda-rios
- martim-pescadorany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
- guarda-riosany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
- pica-peixeany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Punjabi ਮਛੇਰਾ
- ਮਛੇਰਾ (macherā)any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Romanian pescăruș albastru
- pescăruș albastruany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Russian зиморо́док
- зиморо́док (zimoródok)any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Scottish Gaelic biorra-crùidein
- biorra-crùideinany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Slovak rybárik
- rybárikany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Spanish martín pescador
- martín pescadorany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Swahili kurea
- kureaany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Swedish kungsfiskare
- kungsfiskareany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Tagalog susulbot
- susulbotany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Tamil சிரல், மீன்கொத்தி
- சிரல் (ciral)any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
- மீன்கொத்தி (mīṉkotti)any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Thai กระเต็น
- กระเต็น (grà-dten)any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Turkish yalıçapkını, emircik
- yalıçapkınıany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
- emircikany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
- iskele kuşuany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Ukrainian зимородок, рибалочка
- зимородок (zymorodok)any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
- рибалочка (rybaločka)any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
- водомороз (vodomoroz)any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
- іванок (ivanok)any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Vietnamese bói cá
- bói cáany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Welsh glas y dorlan, pioden y dŵr
- glas y dorlanany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
- pioden y dŵrany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
- pysgotwrany of various birds of the suborder Alcedines
Cite this entry
APA
kingfisher. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kingfisher
MLA
“kingfisher.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kingfisher. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kingfisher,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kingfisher.
Source: kingfisher on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.