tanager

[ tan-uh-jer ]

noun

Also called true tanager . any of numerous small New World songbirds of the family Thraupidae (tanager family), the males of which are usually brightly colored, including the multicolored green-headed tanager , Tangara seledon, of South America.
cardinal (def. 3).

Origin of tanager

First recorded in 1605–15; from New Latin tanagra, metathetic variant of Tupi tangara

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use tanager in a sentence

These Tanagers have a more southerly distribution than the Scarlet variety, but are found in the same kind of territory.
Bird Guide: Land Birds East of the Rockies | Chester A. (Chester Albert) Reed
Like most gaily costumed birds the plumages of many Tanagers undergo striking changes in color with age and season.
Color Key to North American Birds | Frank M. Chapman
The tall oaks are sought out by the orioles, tanagers and grosbeaks,—a brilliant and tuneful company.
Sigurd Our Golden Collie and Other Comrades of the Road | Katharine Lee Bates
N American family, the Tanagers are mostly birds of very brilliant plumage.
Birds Illustrated by Color Photograph [January, 1897] | Various
Among the smaller birds are bright tanagers, and a species resembling the canary.
The Western World | W.H.G. Kingston

British Dictionary definitions for tanager

tanager

/ (ˈtænədʒə) /

noun

any American songbird of the family Thraupidae, having a short thick bill and a brilliantly coloured male plumage

Origin of tanager

C19: from New Latin tanagra, based on Tupi tangara

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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