junco

Borrowed from Spanish junco (“reed, rush”), from Latin iuncus (“reed, rush”).^[1] Doublet of juncus and possibly junk. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term. Semantic shift?

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒʌŋkəʊ/

• Audio (Received Pronunciation):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒʌŋkoʊ/
• Rhymes: -ʌŋkəʊ
• Hyphenation: jun‧co

junco (plural juncos or juncoes)

2. Any bird of the genus Junco, which includes several species of North American sparrow.
   • 1862 July, Daniel Wilson, “Science in Rupert’s Land”, in The Canadian Journal of Industry, Science, and Art, volume VII, number XL (New Series), Toronto, Ont.: […] Canadian Institute […], →OCLC, page 343:

     Among many others secured by him, I noticed the eggs and parent birds of the American Widgeon, the Black duck, Canvass-back duck, Spirit duck (Bucephala albeola); small Black-head duck (Fulix affinis); the Wax-wing, (Ampelis garrulus); the Kentucky warbler, the Trumpeter swan, the Duck hawk (Falco anatum), and two species of juncoes.

   • 1899 July 1, Henry B. Kaeding, “The Genus Junco in California”, in Bulletin of the Cooper Ornithological Club: A Bi-monthly Exponent of Californian Ornithology, volume I, number 5, Santa Clara, Calif.: Cooper Ornithological Club, published September–October 1899, →OCLC, page 81, column 1:

     The juncos of this region were separated by Mr. L. M. Loomis and carry very striking characters, the most conspicuous being the bright rufous or reddish dorsal patch which is much more pronounced than in either oregonus or thurberi. These juncos are very common in the vicinity of Monterey during summer and during the breeding season are the only ones found there, but as foon as the young are fledged the birds wander.

   • 1963, Herbert Friedmann, “Brown-headed Cowbird [Hosts of the Brown-headed Cowbird]”, in Host Relations of the Parasitic Cowbirds, Washington, D.C.: United States National Museum, Smithsonian Institution, →OCLC, page 161:

     The slate-coloured junco is an infrequently reported host; probably it is molested very slightly by the brown-headed cowbird. [...] Mills (1957, pp. 25–27) noted that E. C. Allen found a fledgling cowbird attended and fed by juncos near Halifax, Nova Scotia, on July 17, 1933.

3. (obsolete) The common reed bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus), a bird found in Europe and much of the Palearctic.
   • [1658, Edward Phillips, compiler, “Junco”, in The New World of English Words: Or, A General Dictionary: […], London: […] E. Tyler, for Nath[aniel] Brook […], →OCLC:

     Junco, the Reed-Sparrow; a Bird.]

   • 1819, Abraham Rees, “TURDUS”, in The Cyclopædia; or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature. […], volume XXXVI, London: […] Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, […] [et al.], →OCLC, column 1:

     Arundinaceus. Brown-ferruginous; beneath whitiſh-teſtaceous; with tail-feathers banded and reddiſh at the apex. The junco of Geſner [i.e., Conrad Gessner], Aldrovand [i.e., Ulisse Aldrovandi], [John] Ray, and [Francis] Willughby.

     A use of the word to refer to the great reed warbler (Turdus arundinaceus, now Acrocephalus arundinaceus).

• blue snowbird, snowbird (Junco hyemalis)
• dark-eyed junco (Junco hyemalis hyemalis)

• dark-eyed junco

• juncaceous
• juncous

• junco on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

junco m (plural juncos, reintegrationist norm)

1. reintegrationist spelling of xunco

• “junco” in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (2014).

juncō

1. dative/ablative singular of juncus

From Latin iuncus.

junco m (plural juncos)

1. reed, rush

Borrowed from Arabic جنك (junk), from Malay جوڠ (jong).

junco m (plural juncos)

1. (nautical) junk (a Chinese ship)

• junquo, jungo (archaic)

• → English: junk (or via Dutch jonk)
• → Italian: giunca, giunco, giuncho, ioncque (archaic), giunchi, zonchi (in the plural, archaic)
  • → French: jonque
  • → German: Junke, Juncke, Dschunke
  • → Latin: junkus, (New Latin) iunca, (New Latin) iuncus
    • → Dutch: ionco, iunco
    • → Italian: ioncque
      • → French: ionct
      • → Spanish: iuncque
• → Spanish: junco, juanga, joanga

• “junco” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “junco”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025
• “junco”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

• IPA^(key): /ˈxunko/ [ˈxũŋ.ko]

• Audio (Venezuela):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -unko
• Syllabification: jun‧co

From Latin iuncus. Cognate with English junk.

junco m (plural juncos)

1. reed, rush

   Synonyms: junquera, carrizo, caña

• → English: junco
• → Translingual: Junco

Borrowed from Portuguese junco, from Arabic جنك (junk), from Malay jong (جوڠ). The alternative forms may derive from Ternate juanga.

junco m (plural juncos)

1. (nautical) junk (a Chinese ship)

• juanga, joanga, iuncque (archaic)

• “junco”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024