blue tit
1
5.7
- noun
- /bluː tɪt/
- UK
:
herrerillo azul
- A blue tit looking at the world with a magic helmet labeled "human" would find the world almost as drab as we find black and white.
Examples
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Another has the name of that small songbird known as the blue tit.
Academic text (2009) -
But even a blue tit's vision seems boring when compared with what goes on in the stalked eye of the mantis shrimp.
Academic text (2009) -
Indeed, to us, the male and female blue tit look similar.
Academic text (2009) -
Another blue tit, please, Miss Charming.
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There were blue tits and coal tits crowded together on the evergreen, and a small brown wren in the sumac bush.
Fiction book (1991) -
A yellow swallowtail butterfly or a bird such as a blue tit is, therefore, a tetrachromat, and has a visual palette far more complex than our own.
Academic text (2009) -
The most frequently recognized species were the blue tit (65.8%), a regular resident bird in domestic gardens, and the winter wren (39.2%), a common UK-breeding bird.
Academic text (2012) -
In spring, blue tits often build their nests in tree hollows.
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A pair of blue tits were flitting around the garden, searching for food.
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We observed a blue tit perched on a branch, singing a cheerful song.
Synonyms
21
9.0
A small lively songbird with a short thick beak often seen in gardens
1
8.8
A small bird with a crest that eats insects
1
9.9
A small European bird with bright blue wings, tail, and head
A small European bird with bright blue wings, tail, and head
A small bird with a bright blue patch on its head often seen in gardens
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning ('a small songbird with blue colouring') is directly and compositionally derived from 'blue' (a color) + 'tit' (a small songbird). Color + species noun compounds are transparent and common cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The name blue tit comes from a simple picture: it is a tiny bird with bright blue feathers, and tit was an old word meaning 'small bird'. That's why the name refers to this little blue songbird.