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Glite Dictionary
gold-crowned kinglet

gold-crowned kinglet

9.9
A very small North American bird with a bright golden crown on its head
  • noun
  • /ɡoʊldˈkraʊnd ˈkɪŋlɪt/
  • US
translation icon : reyezuelo coronado de oro
  • The distinctive golden crown helps to easily identify the gold-crowned kinglet from other small songbirds.

Examples

  • Birdwatchers in the park were thrilled to spot a gold-crowned kinglet during the migration season.

  • A gold-crowned kinglet flitted among the pine branches, searching for tiny insects.

  • Look at that gold-crowned kinglet perched on the fence!

  • I spotted a gold-crowned kinglet in the garden.

  • Birdwatchers in the park were thrilled to spot a gold-crowned kinglet during the migration season.

  • The distinctive golden crown helps to easily identify the gold-crowned kinglet from other small songbirds.

  • A gold-crowned kinglet flitted among the pine branches, searching for tiny insects.

Surface Forms

gold-crowned kinglet singular
gold-crowned kinglets plural

Morphology

gold-crowned + kinglet

The noun is a straightforward adjective+noun combination: 'gold-crowned' denotes having a golden crest and 'kinglet' is a small songbird, so a learner who knows those constituents can infer a small bird with a golden crown. This compositional, non-idiomatic structure follows regular English adjective+noun patterns and is cross-linguistically transparent, so no prior exposure is required.

Etymology

The name gold-crowned kinglet comes from a clear picture: this tiny songbird has a small gold-crowned 'crown' of feathers on its head. Kinglet means 'little king', so the name tells you it is a very small bird with a golden crest.