cygnet

From Middle English cignet, signet, from Anglo-Norman cignet, diminutive of Old French cigne (“swan”), from Latin cygnus, cycnus (“swan”), from Ancient Greek κύκνος (kúknos, “swan”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɪɡ.nɪt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Homophone: signet

cygnet (plural cygnets)

1. The young of a swan.
   • 1623, William Shakespeare, King John:

     I am the cygnet to this pale faint swan,
     Who chants a doleful hymn to his own death,
     And from the organ-pipe of frailty sings
     His soul and body to their lasting rest.

• swanling

• cygnicide
• cygnine
• dendrocygnid