Meanings
partridge1
plural partridges
- biologyAny bird of a number of genera in the family Phasianidae, notably in the genera Perdix and Alectoris.
On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me a partridge in a pear tree.
1 more example
...and the loudest sound in the lonely fields was when, adventuring too near some late brood, the partridge sought to deceive by a plaintive cry and seeming helplessness, crossing before your very feet, till, when drawn to a sufficient distance, suddenly the air vibrated to the flutter of her active pinions.
1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XI, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 80
Partridge2
- A surname.
Mrs Partridge, upon this, immediately fell into a fury, and discharged the trencher on which she was eating, at the head of poor Jenny […]
1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC - A minor city in Reno County, Kansas, United States, named after the bird.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounheavy-bodied small-winged South American game bird resembling a gallinaceous bird but related to the ratite birds
nounvalued as a game bird in eastern United States and Canada
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekπέρδιξ“partridge”
- Latinperdīx“partridge”
- Old Frenchperdriz
- Middle Englishpartrich
- Englishpartridge
From Middle English partrich, partriche, pertriche, perdriz, from Old French perdriz, partriz, from Latin perdīx (“partridge”), from Ancient Greek πέρδιξ (pérdix, “partridge”), probably from πέρδομαι (pérdomai, “to fart”).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek πέρδιξ
- πέρδιξ (pérdix)any bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Arabic حَجَل, قبج
- حَجَل (ḥajal)any bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
- قبج (qabj)any bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Basque eper
- eperany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Bulgarian яребица, кеклик
- яребица (jarebica)any bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
- кеклик (keklik)any bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Catalan perdiu
- perdiuany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Chinese Mandarin 山鶉 /山鹑, 石雞 /石鸡
- 山鶉 /山鹑 (shānchún)any bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
- 石雞 /石鸡 (shíjī)any bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Czech koroptev, orebice
- koroptevany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
- orebiceany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Danish agerhøne
- agerhøneany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Dutch patrijs
- patrijsany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Esperanto perdriko
- perdrikoany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Estonian nurmkana, põldpüü
- nurmkanaany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
- põldpüüany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
- püüany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Finnish peltopyy, punapyy
- peltopyyany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
- punapyyany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
French perdrix, garbon
- perdrixany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
- garbonany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
- perdreauany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
German Rebhuhn
- Rebhuhnany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Greek πέρδικα
- πέρδικα (pérdika)any bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Hebrew חוגלה \ חָגְלָה
- חוגלה \ חָגְלָה (khoglá)any bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Hindi तीतर
- तीतर (tītar)any bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Hungarian fogoly
- fogolyany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Icelandic akurhæna
- akurhænaany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Irish patraisc
- patraiscany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Italian pernice
- perniceany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Japanese 山鶉, ヤマウズラ
- 山鶉 (yamauzura)any bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
- ヤマウズラ (yamauzura)any bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Latin perdīx
- perdīxany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Latvian laukirbe, irbe
- laukirbeany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
- irbeany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Lithuanian kurapka
- kurapkaany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Norwegian Bokmål rapphøne
- rapphøneany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Persian کبک, زرچ
- کبک (kabk)any bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
- زرچ (zareč)any bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
- دج (daj)any bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Polish kuropatwa, kuropatwa
- kuropatwaany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
- kuropatwathe meat of these birds
Portuguese perdiz
- perdizany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Punjabi ਤਿੱਤਰ
- ਤਿੱਤਰ (tittar)any bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Romanian potârniche
- potârnicheany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Russian куропа́тка
- куропа́тка (kuropátka)any bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Scottish Gaelic peurtag
- peurtagany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Slovak jarabica
- jarabicaany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Spanish perdiz
- perdizany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Swahili kwale
- kwaleany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Swedish rapphöna
- rapphönaany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Tamil கௌதாரி
- கௌதாரி (kautāri)any bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Turkish keklik
- keklikany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Ukrainian куріпка, куріпка сіра
- куріпка (kuripka)any bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
- куріпка сіра (kuripka sira)any bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Welsh petris
- petrisany bird of the genera Perdix or Alectoris
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with partridge
All rhymes →Cite this entry
partridge. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/partridge
“partridge.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/partridge. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “partridge,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/partridge.
Source: partridge on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.