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Glite Dictionary
hermit thrush

hermit thrush

1 7.9
A North American bird with a brown back and spotted breast that sings beautifully
  • noun
  • /ˈhɜːrmɪt θrʌʃ/
  • US
translation icon : zorzal ermitaño
  • Chickadees here and there, a pair of downy woodpeckers, two white-throated sparrows, a cardinal, and a cooperative hermit thrush.

Examples

  • Sharon... you know that the state bird of Vermont... is the hermit thrush?

    The Rapture (1991)

  • The song of the hermit thrush is a beautiful melody that captivates many nature lovers.

  • Often heard in the woods, the hermit thrush has a complex and sweet song that echoes through the trees.

  • As I walked through the forest, I was delighted to hear the distinctive tune of the hermit thrush nearby.

Synonyms

thrush
vshermit thrush
4 3.6

A small to medium songbird with brown back feathers and a spotted breast

is native to North America rather than worldwide

Surface Forms

hermit thrush singular
hermit thrushes plural

Morphology

hermit + thrush

The compound is simply noun+noun (hermit + thrush) naming a type of bird, so a learner who knows 'hermit' (a solitary person) and 'thrush' (a songbird) can infer it refers to a kind of thrush, likely characterized as solitary. This follows regular species-naming and adjectival modification patterns common across languages, making the meaning derivable from the constituents.

Etymology

Hermit thrush gets its name from the bird's way of singing alone in quiet woods: hermit means someone who 'lives alone' and thrush is a kind of songbird. People heard its clear, lonely song and thought of a hermit, so the name points to a small bird known for its beautiful, solitary song.