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Glite Dictionary
purple finch

purple finch

6.0
A small North American bird with males that have red heads and females with brown streaks
  • noun
  • /ˈpɜrpl fɪnʧ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : pinzón morado
  • Purple finches.

Examples

  • Visitors to the park were delighted to see a group of purple finches flitting about the trees.

  • This winter, I spotted a beautiful purple finch perched on a branch in my backyard.

  • The male purple finch brightened the garden with its striking raspberry-red plumage.

Synonyms

Carpodacus purpureus
vspurple finch
  • Archaic
9.9

A small North American finch with a raspberry-red head, breast and rump

is the common English name for the same species

Surface Forms

purple finch singular
purple finches plural

Morphology

purple + finch

The meaning is directly compositional: 'purple' (a color) combined with 'finch' (a small songbird) straightforwardly yields a finch that is purple-colored. This color + noun naming pattern is cross‑linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the referent.

Etymology

Purple finch gets its name from the bird's bright reddish feathers that people long ago often called purple; picture a small finch with a splash of deep red on its head and chest. That's why today purple finch means this small North American bird whose males look reddish and whose females are brown with streaks.