tanager

[ tan-uh-jer ]

noun
  1. 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.

Origin of tanager

1
First recorded in 1605–15; from New Latin tanagra, metathetic variant of Tupi tangara

Words Nearby tanager

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

How to use tanager in a sentence

  • The tanager was always a very shy bird; he did not like to be looked at.

    In Nesting Time | Olive Thorne Miller
  • I waited only for warm days to set free the tanager, and at last they came.

    In Nesting Time | Olive Thorne Miller
  • Dense foliage no more conceals the male bird's brilliant coat than it can the tanager's or oriole's.

    Bird Neighbors | Neltje Blanchan
  • At the time I did not notice the singularity of his remark, my attention being absorbed in contemplating the unfortunate tanager.

    The Moon Metal | Garrett P. Serviss
  • This rarely beautiful tanager, thanks to them, is now only an infrequent flash of beauty in our country roads.

    Bird Neighbors | Neltje Blanchan

British Dictionary definitions for tanager

tanager

/ (ˈtænədʒə) /


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

Origin of tanager

1
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