Goldfinch

//ˈɡoʊldˌfɪnt͡ʃ// name, noun, slang

name, noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any of several small passerine birds of the finch family; A European goldfinch, Eurasian goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)
  2. 2
    small European finch having a crimson face and yellow-and-black wings wordnet
  3. 3
    Any of several small passerine birds of the finch family; An American goldfinch (Spinus tristis, syn. Carduelis tristis)
  4. 4
    American finch whose male has yellow body plumage in summer wordnet
  5. 5
    Any of several small passerine birds of the finch family; Lawrence's goldfinch (Spinus lawrencei, syn. Carduelis lawrencei)
Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    Any of several small passerine birds of the finch family; A lesser goldfinch (Spinus psaltria, syn. Carduelis psaltria).
  2. 7
    A sovereign (the coin). UK, obsolete, slang
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.

Synonyms

All synonyms
carduelis cardueliseuropean goldfincheuropean goldfinchmagpienew world goldfinchnew world goldfinch

Example

More examples

"The goldfinch is a very interesting bird."

Etymology

From Middle English goldfinch, goldfynch, goldefynch, from Old English goldfinċ, equivalent to gold + finch. Compare West Frisian goudfink (“goldfinch”), Dutch goudvink (“bullfinch”), German Goldfink (“goldfinch”), Danish guldfink (“goldfinch”), Icelandic gullfinka (“goldfinch”).

Related phrases

pale goldfinchwillow goldfinchcarduelis cardueliseuropean goldfinchlesser goldfinchlettuce bird

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.