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Glite Dictionary
thrush nightingale

thrush nightingale

9.8
A large songbird from eastern Europe that sings a rich, beautiful song
  • noun
  • /θrʌʃ ˈnaɪtɪŋɡeɪl/
translation icon : ruiseñor
  • The thrush nightingale is admired for its rich and varied songs during the breeding season.

Examples

  • Birdwatchers travel to eastern Europe every spring to hear the thrush nightingale in its natural habitat.

  • Unlike the common nightingale, the thrush nightingale tends to have a grayer and less reddish plumage.

  • The thrush nightingale is known for its beautiful song.

  • Have you ever heard a thrush nightingale sing?

  • Birdwatchers travel to eastern Europe every spring to hear the thrush nightingale in its natural habitat.

  • The thrush nightingale is admired for its rich and varied songs during the breeding season.

  • Have you ever heard a thrush nightingale sing in the forest?

Synonyms

Luscinia luscinia
vsthrush nightingale
  • Specialized
9.9

A large nightingale that sings loudly in eastern European forests

is the common English name used in everyday speech rather than scientific contexts

Surface Forms

thrush nightingale singular
thrush nightingales plural

Morphology

thrush + nightingale

Both constituents are concrete bird names, so a B1 learner who knows 'thrush' and 'nightingale' can infer this is a type of bird (a nightingale related to or resembling a thrush, i.e. a larger/thrush-like nightingale). The meaning is literal and compositional, following normal English compound-noun formation, so it is predictable from the parts.

Etymology

Thrush nightingale comes from how the bird looks and sounds: it is a kind of nightingale that is larger and more like a thrush, so people used both names to show its thrush-like size and nightingale song. That's why thrush nightingale today means a large nightingale with a rich song found in eastern Europe.