Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
marsh wren

marsh wren

8.6
A small songbird that lives in marshes and sings a loud bubbling song
  • noun
  • /mɑrʃ rɛn/
  • US
translation icon : cernícalo de pantano
  • The distinctive bubbling song of the marsh wren is a delightful sound in the peaceful marshlands.

Examples

  • A marsh wren is in a tree above the bank.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • Two species in particular, the sora (Porzana carolina) and the marsh wren (Cistothorus palustrus), were found exclusively in the planted wetland in the second year.

    Academic text (1998)

  • As I walked through the marsh, the cheerful song of the marsh wren filled the air.

  • We spotted a marsh wren flitting about among the reeds as we observed the wetland wildlife.

Synonyms

wren
vsmarsh wren
5 2.2

A small active brown bird that sings and lives near gardens

is a specific North American marsh species with a distinctive bubbling song
Cistothorus palustris
vsmarsh wren
  • Specialized
9.9

A small brown bird that sings and lives in tall reeds and marshes in North America

is the common everyday name used for that identical species

Surface Forms

marsh wren singular
marsh wrens plural

Morphology

marsh + wren

The phrase is a straightforward noun compound where 'marsh' specifies the habitat of the head noun 'wren', so the meaning 'a wren that lives in marshes' is directly derivable from the constituents. This compositional modifier + head pattern is common cross-linguistically and predictable for a B1 learner who knows both words.

Etymology

Marsh wren simply describes the bird: marsh means a wet place with reeds and wren is a small, noisy songbird, so the name points to a little singer that lives in the reeds of a marsh.