Added 9 October 2026
finch
/fɪnt͡ʃ/ noun
In Latin: fringilla Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about finch at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- Any Eurasian goldfinch (of species Carduelis carduelis, syn. Fringilla carduelis).
- Any bird of the family Fringillidae, seed-eating passerine birds, native chiefly to the Northern Hemisphere and usually having a conical beak.
- Any bird of other families of similar appearance to members of family Fringillidae.
verb
- To hunt for finches, to go finching.
Origin
From Middle English fynch, from Old English finċ, from Proto-West Germanic *finki, from Proto-Germanic *finkiz (compare Dutch vink, German Fink), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pingos (“chaffinch”). Compare Welsh pinc (“finch”), Ancient Greek σπίγγος (spíngos, “chaffinch”), Russian пе́нка (pénka, “wren”), Sanskrit फिङ्गक (phiṅgaka, “drongo, shrike”).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)