Manakin
noun ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
- 1 Any of several small Central and South American passerine birds of the family Pipridae.
- 2 any of numerous small bright-colored birds of Central America and South America having short bills and elaborate courtship behavior wordnet
- 3 Alternative form of manikin. alt-of, alternative
"18??, James Napier, Folk Lore: Superstitious Beliefs in the West of Scotland Within This Century After a time, he was surprised to see the hopper beginning to go, and, looking up, he saw a little manakin holding a little cappie in his hand and filling it at the hopper."
- 4 a life-size dummy used to display clothes wordnet
- 5 a woman who wears clothes to display fashions wordnet
Example
More examples"18??, James Napier, Folk Lore: Superstitious Beliefs in the West of Scotland Within This Century After a time, he was surprised to see the hopper beginning to go, and, looking up, he saw a little manakin holding a little cappie in his hand and filling it at the hopper."
Etymology
Generally thought to derive, like manikin, from Middle Dutch mannekijn. Compare French manakin, German Manakin. Doublet of manikin and mannequin.
Related phrases
More for "manakin"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.