Nightingale

//ˈnaɪtɪŋɡeɪl// name, noun

name, noun ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A Eurasian and African songbird, Luscinia megarhynchos, family Muscicapidae, famed for its beautiful singing at night; a common nightingale.

    "Wilt thou be gone? It is not yet neere day: / It was the Nightingale, and not the Larke, / That pier'ſt the fearefull hollow of thine eare"

  2. 2
    A kind of flannel scarf with sleeves, formerly worn by invalids when sitting up in bed.
  3. 3
    European songbird noted for its melodious nocturnal song wordnet
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.

Synonyms

All synonyms
canarycuckooflorence nightingalelarkluscinia megarhynchosmagpie

Antonyms

All antonyms
day

Example

More examples

"Florence Nightingale is famous as the woman who began professional nursing."

Etymology

Etymology 1

Inherited from Middle English nyghtyngale, nightingale, niȝtingale, alteration (with intrusive n) of nyghtgale, nightegale, from Old English nihtegala, nihtegale (“nightingale; night-raven”, literally “night-singer”), from Proto-West Germanic *nahtigalā (“nightingale”), equivalent to a compound of night + gale. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Noachtegoal (“nightingale”), Dutch nachtegaal (“nightingale”), German Low German Nachtigall (“nightingale”), German Nachtigall (“nightingale”), Danish nattergal (“thrush nightingale”), Swedish näktergal (“nightingale”), Icelandic næturgali (“nightingale”).

Etymology 2

Named after Florence Nightingale.

Related phrases

Ceylon nightingaleChinese nightingaleDutch nightingaleFlorence NightingaleIndian nightingaleIrish nightingaleJapanese nightingaleNightingale courtNightingale wardPalestine nightingalePersian nightingaleScotch nightingale

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