Meanings
merle1
merle2
plural merles
- countableuncountableA type of mottled coloration on dogs.
- countableuncountableA dog having this coloration.
Merle3
- A surname from French of French origin.
- A male given name transferred from the surname.
Merle Haggard is a name out of a morality play. And that's the kind of songs he sings.
1968 May 3, Al Aronowitz, “New Country Twang Hits Town”, in Life Magazine, page 12
Merle4
- A female given name from English.
Her name was Merle, and to her name she always said she owed the fact that Gilbert Vanborough ever looked at her.
1887, Emily Frances Adeline Sergeant, Jacob's Wife, page 921 more example
"I wish I had a name like Merle Oberon or Miriam Hopkins," Mary Agnes said dreamily as she scanned the display of Coming Attractions.
1976, From These Hills, From These Valleys: Pennsylvania Writers' Collection, University of Pittsburgh Press, →ISBN, page 186
Synonyms & antonyms
nouncommon black European thrush
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
merle · noun
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂mes-“black, blackbird”
- Latinmerula“blackbird”
- Old Frenchmerle
- Middle Englishmerle
- Englishmerle
From Middle English merle, from Old French merle (French merle), from Latin merula (“blackbird”) (whence the directly borrowed Middle English merule, and compare the taxonomic name Turdus merula), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂mes- (“black, blackbird”). Compare Breton moualch (“ouzel”), Welsh mwyalch (“blackbird, thrush”). Distantly related to the synonymous ouzel.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Merle · proper noun
- FrenchMerle
- FrenchMerle
- EnglishMerle
Borrowed from French Merle.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Merle · proper noun
English 19th-century bird name from merle (“blackbird”), possibly also a variant of Muriel, Merrill, etc.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian кос
- кос (kos)Eurasian blackbird, Turdus merula
Polish kos, kos zwyczajny
- kosEurasian blackbird, Turdus merula
- kos zwyczajnyEurasian blackbird, Turdus merula
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with merle
Anagrams
Cite this entry
merle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/merle
“merle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/merle. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “merle,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/merle.
Source: merle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.