Meanings
Synonyms & antonyms
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African wagtailAfrican pied wagtailblack-backed wagtailblack backed wagtailblue-headed wagtailblue headed wagtailCape wagtailcitrine wagtailfield wagtailforest wagtailgarden wagtailgray wagtailgrey wagtailgrey-headed wagtailgrey headed wagtailJapanese wagtailMadagascar wagtailMadagascan wagtailMekong wagtailmountain wagtailpied wagtailwagtail flycatcherwater wagtailwhite-browed wagtailwhite browed wagtail (Motacilla maderaspatensiswhite wagtailwillie wagtailwilly wagtailwilly-wagtailwinter wagtailwood wagtailyellow wagtail
Also see
Origin
- Middle Englishwagstert
- Englishwagtail
From a partial suppletion of Middle English wagstert (literally “wag-tail”), equivalent to wag + tail.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic ذُعْرَة, هَزَّاز الذَّنَب
- ذُعْرَة (ḏuʕra)various small passerine birds
- هَزَّاز الذَّنَب (hazzāz aḏ-ḏanab)various small passerine birds
- أَبُو َالْفَصَاد (ʔabū ālfaṣād)various small passerine birds
Basque buztanikara
- buztanikaravarious small passerine birds
Bulgarian стърчиопашка
- стърчиопашка (stărčiopaška)various small passerine birds
Catalan cuereta
- cueretavarious small passerine birds
Chinese Mandarin 鶺鴒 /鹡鸰, 雝渠 /雍渠
- 鶺鴒 /鹡鸰 (jílíng)various small passerine birds
- 雝渠 /雍渠 (yōngqú)various small passerine birds
Czech konipas
- konipasvarious small passerine birds
Danish vipstjert
- vipstjertvarious small passerine birds
Dutch kwikstaart
- kwikstaartvarious small passerine birds
Esperanto motacilo
- motacilovarious small passerine birds
Finnish västäräkki
- västäräkkivarious small passerine birds
French hochequeue, bergeronnette
- hochequeuevarious small passerine birds
- bergeronnettevarious small passerine birds
German Stelze
- Stelzevarious small passerine birds
Greek σουσουράδα
- σουσουράδα (sousouráda)various small passerine birds
Hebrew נַחְלִיאֵלִי
- נַחְלִיאֵלִי (naẖliéli)various small passerine birds
Hindi खंजन, तुलिका
- खंजन (khañjan)various small passerine birds
- तुलिका (tulikā)various small passerine birds
Hungarian billegető
- billegetővarious small passerine birds
Irish glasóg
- glasógvarious small passerine birds
Italian cutrettola, batticoda
- cutrettolavarious small passerine birds
- batticodavarious small passerine birds
- ballerinavarious small passerine birds
Japanese 鶺鴒
- 鶺鴒 (sekirei)various small passerine birds
Korean 할미새, 아리새
- 할미새 (halmisae)various small passerine birds
- 아리새 (arisae)various small passerine birds
Latin motacilla
- motacillavarious small passerine birds
Latvian cielava
- cielavavarious small passerine birds
Lithuanian kielė
- kielėvarious small passerine birds
Persian دمجنبانک, سوسلنگ
- دمجنبانک (dom-jonbânak)various small passerine birds
- سوسلنگ (sūseleng)various small passerine birds
Polish pliszka
- pliszkavarious small passerine birds
Portuguese alvéola, alvéloa
- alvéolavarious small passerine birds
- alvéloavarious small passerine birds
- lavandiscavarious small passerine birds
- lavandeiravarious small passerine birds
Romanian codobatură, prundaș
- codobaturăvarious small passerine birds
- prundașvarious small passerine birds
Russian трясогу́зка
- трясогу́зка (trjasogúzka)various small passerine birds
Spanish lavandera
- lavanderavarious small passerine birds
Swedish ärla
- ärlavarious small passerine birds
Turkish kuyruksallayan, yont kuşu
- kuyruksallayanvarious small passerine birds
- yont kuşuvarious small passerine birds
Ukrainian пли́ска
- пли́ска (plýska)various small passerine birds
Urdu مَدِیرا
- مَدِیرا (madīrā)various small passerine birds
Vietnamese chìa vôi
- chìa vôivarious small passerine birds
Welsh siglen, tingsigl
- siglenvarious small passerine birds
- tingsiglvarious small passerine birds
Cite this entry
APA
wagtail. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wagtail
MLA
“wagtail.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wagtail. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wagtail,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wagtail.
Source: wagtail on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.