blackbird

English

Etymology

From Middle English blakebird, blacbrid (“ouzel; Eurasian blackbird”), equivalent to black +‎ bird.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈblakbəːd/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈblækˌbɚd/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ækbə(ɹ)d

Noun

blackbird (plural blackbirds)

  2. A common true thrush, Turdus merula, found in woods and gardens over much of Eurasia, and introduced elsewhere.
  3. A variety of New World birds of the family Icteridae (26 species of icterid bird).
  4. (slang, derogatory, historical, among slavers and pirates) A native of the South Pacific islands.

Synonyms

Derived terms

terms derived from blackbird (noun)

Translations

Verb

blackbird (third-person singular simple present blackbirds, present participle blackbirding, simple past and past participle blackbirded)

  1. To enslave someone, especially through chicanery or force
    • 2005, Wal F. Bird, Me No Go Mally Bulla: Recruiting and Blackbirding in the Queensland Labour Trade 1863–1906, Ginninderra Press, →ISBN, →ISBN:
    • 2000, Kate Fortune, Brij V. Lal, The Pacific Islands: An Encyclopedia – Volume 1, University of Hawaiʻi, →ISBN, page 208:
      “At the same time, island communities — especially in coastal areas, where the effect of population loss was often enormous — sometimes retaliated against blackbirding raids.”

Further reading

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