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Glite Dictionary
🚢 Rear deck area 🦚 Fan-shaped tail 🐦 A small bird
fantail

fantail

1 4.8
A tail or rear part that spreads out like a fan, for example on birds
  • noun
  • /ˈfænˌteɪl/
translation icon : cola en abanico
  • The fantail of the peacock displayed stunning colors as it spread its tail feathers.

Examples

  • She had only seen fantail plumage once, in the hair of a fat, wealthy woman who stopped at their village to have a carriage wheel fixed.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • The fantail bird fluttered gracefully among the flowers with its elegantly shaped tail.

  • The child drew a picture of a fantail, highlighting its unique fan-like tail in bright colors.

Surface Forms

fantail singular
fantails plural

Morphology

fantail = fan + tail (transparent) = fan + tail

Meaning directly follows from 'fan' + 'tail': a tail or part that spreads out like a fan.

Etymology

Fantail is a simple mix of fan and tail, so it means a tail or part that 'spreads out' like a fan. So the word can describe any bird, animal, or object with a fan-shaped tail.