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nightingale

 - 6 dictionary results

night⋅in⋅gale

[nahyt-n-geyl, nahy-ting-]
–noun
any of several small, Old World, migratory birds of the thrush family, esp. Luscinia megarhynchos, of Europe, noted for the melodious song of the male, given chiefly at night during the breeding season.

Origin:
1200–50; ME nightyngale, nasalized var. of nightegale, OE nihtegale, c. G Nachtigall, lit., night singer (cf. OE galan sing; akin to yell )

Night⋅in⋅gale

[nahyt-n-geyl, nahy-ting-]
–noun
Florence (“the Lady with the Lamp”), 1820–1910, English nurse: reformer of hospital conditions and procedures; reorganizer of nurse's training programs.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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night·in·gale   (nīt'n-gāl', nī'tĭng-)   
n.  
  1. A European songbird (Luscinia megarhynchos) with reddish-brown plumage, noted for the melodious song of the male at night during the breeding season.

  2. Any of various other nocturnal songbirds of the genus Luscinia.


[Middle English, from Old English nihtegale : niht, night; see night + galan, to sing; see ghel-1 in Indo-European roots.]
Night·in·gale   (nīt'n-gāl', nī'tĭng-)   
British nurse who organized (1854) and directed a unit of field nurses during the Crimean War and is considered the founder of modern nursing.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

nightingale 
O.E. næctigalæ, compound formed in P.Gmc. (cf. Du. nachtegaal, Ger. Nachtigall) from *nakht- "night" (see night) + *galon "to sing," related to O.E. giellan "yell" (see yell). With parasitic -n- that appeared c.1250. Dutch nightingale "frog" is attested from 1769. In Japanese, "nightingale floor" is said to be the term for boards that creak when you walk on them.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Nightingale Night·in·gale (nīt'n-gāl', nī'tĭng-), Florence. 1820-1910.

British nurse who organized (1854) and directed a unit of field nurses during the Crimean War and is considered the founder of modern nursing.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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