English Explanatory Dictionary

titmouse

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Any small passerine bird mostly of the genus Baeolophus, which are found in the woods of the Northern Hemisphere and of Africa.

Pronunciation

/ˈtɪtmaʊs/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-titmouse.wav

Word forms

titmouse titmice titmouses

Etymology

From Middle English titmose, compound of tit (“small bird”) and mose, from Old English māse (“titmouse”), from Proto-West Germanic *maisā, from Proto-Germanic *maisǭ (compare Dutch mees, German Meise, Old Norse meisingr, French mésange), from *maisaz (“tiny, puny”) (compare Norwegian meis (“skinny weakling”)). Spelling as well as the plural form in imitation of the otherwise unrelated mouse.

Synonyms

tit

Related words

chickadee Pseudopodoces Baeolophus Melanochlora Sylviparus

Derived words

black-crested titmouse blue titmouse bridled titmouse juniper titmouse long-tailed titmouse oak titmouse tufted titmouse
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on T Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary