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Old World oriole

Old World oriole

9.8
A songbird that lives in Europe, Asia, and Africa, with males often bright orange and black
  • noun
  • UK
translation icon : oriol del Viejo Mundo
  • The male Old World oriole is known for its vivid orange and black feathers.

Examples

  • While birdwatching in India, we spotted an Old World oriole perched in the treetops.

  • Old World orioles are admired for their melodic songs in tropical forests.

  • The Old World oriole is known for its vibrant colors.

  • Have you ever seen an Old World oriole in the wild?

  • The male Old World oriole is known for its vivid orange and black feathers.

  • While birdwatching in India, we spotted an Old World oriole perched in the treetops.

  • Old World orioles are admired for their melodic songs in tropical forests.

Synonyms

family Oriolidae
vsOld World oriole
  • Specialized
9.9

A group of birds like orioles found in Africa, Europe, Asia, and Australia

is a single mostly tropical songbird within that group with bright male colours
Oriolidae
vsOld World oriole
  • Specialized
9.9

A group of songbirds with bright feathers that live in Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia

is a specific tropical songbird in that family with bright male plumage

Surface Forms

Morphology

old + world + oriole

The phrase denotes an oriole that comes from the 'Old World' (Europe/Asia/Africa), so its meaning is directly compositional: 'oriole' names the bird and 'Old World' functions as a geographic modifier. This geography+noun pattern is cross-linguistically common and a B1 learner who knows the constituent words can reasonably infer the intended meaning.

Etymology

Old World oriole gets its name from two clear images: oriole comes from a word meaning 'golden' because the male often has bright orange-yellow feathers, and Old World shows the bird is from Europe, Asia and Africa, the 'old continents'. So the name helps you picture a bright, singing oriole from those lands.