linnet

noun

lin·​net ˈli-nət 

: a common small brownish Old World finch (Linaria cannabina) of which the male has red on the breast and crown during breeding season

Examples of linnet in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Sparrows, chaffinches, linnets, and several coastal African birds arrived to the island in 1863. —National Geographic, 8 May 2017

Word History

Etymology

Middle French linette, from lin flax, from Latin linum; from its feeding on flax seeds

First Known Use

circa 1530, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

linnet

noun

lin·​net ˈlin-ət 

: a common small Old-World brownish finch of which the male has red on the breast and top of the head during breeding season

Etymology

from early French linette "linnet," from lin "flax," from Latin linum "flax"

Word Origin

Many birds eat seeds. One small songbird, known as the linnet, seems especially fond of seeds of the flax plant, a fondness that appears to have earned the bird its name. The Latin word for flax is linum, which is also the source of the English word linen, a cloth made from flax. When linum was borrowed from Latin into early French, it became lin. The songbird that feeds on the flax seeds came to be called linette in early French and later linnet in English.