English Explanatory Dictionary

hickwall

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A lesser spotted woodpecker (Dryobates minor).
  2. A European green woodpecker (Picus viridis).
  3. A blue tit, Cyanistes caeruleus.

Word forms

hickwall hickwalls hickway

Etymology

From Middle English hyghwhele; also highwale (1500s) or highawe (1600s). Rarely attested before the sixteenth century, making the original form difficult to trace. Probably imitative of the bird's cry; compare yaffle (“green woodpecker”). Possibly influenced by witwall, woodwall.

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