Kingfisher

name, noun

name, noun ·3 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines (or the family Alcedinidae sensu lato), having a large head, short tail and brilliant colouration; they feed mostly on fish.
  2. 2
    nonpasserine large-headed bird with a short tail and long sharp bill; usually crested and bright-colored; feed mostly on fish wordnet
  3. 3
    Any of various birds of the suborder Alcedines (or the family Alcedinidae sensu lato), having a large head, short tail and brilliant colouration; they feed mostly on fish.; common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis)
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A city, the county seat of Kingfisher County, Oklahoma, United States.

Synonyms

All synonyms
magpie

Example

More examples

"The bird, (this kingfisher, nesting in the sea) is covered with feathers, flies with pinions, and has two wings, and as many pedida, a tail, and a bill. The female, in a nest, lays eggs, and incubating those, hatches chicks."

Etymology

Etymology 1

Originally king's fisher, from Middle English kyngys fyschare; equivalent to king + fisher. So named for obscure reasons.

Etymology 2

Either after a person named King Fisher, or a combination of the surnames King and Fisher.

Related phrases

Eurasian kingfisherEuropean kingfisherGuam kingfisherKingfisher CountyKingfisher ShoresLeach's kingfisherbanded kingfisherbeach kingfisherbelted kingfisherblue-banded kingfisherblue-capped kingfisherblue-eared kingfisher

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