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passerine

[ pas-er-in, -uh-rahyn, -uh-reen ]

adjective

  1. of, belonging, or pertaining to the order Passeriformes, comprising more than half of all birds and typically having the feet adapted for perching.


noun

  1. any bird of the order Passeriformes.

passerine

/ ˈpæsəˌraɪn; -ˌriːn /

adjective

  1. of, relating to, or belonging to the Passeriformes, an order of birds characterized by the perching habit: includes the larks, finches, crows, thrushes, starlings, etc
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


noun

  1. any bird belonging to the order Passeriformes
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

passerine

/ păsə-rīn′ /

  1. Belonging to the avian order Passeriformes, which includes the perching birds. Passerine birds make up more than half of all living birds. They are of small to medium size, have three toes pointing forward and one pointing back, and are often brightly colored. Larks, swallows, jays, crows, wrens, thrushes, cardinals, finches, sparrows, and blackbirds are all passerine birds.


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Other Words From

  • non·passer·ine adjective noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of passerine1

1770–80; < Latin passerīnus of a sparrow, equivalent to passer sparrow + -īnus -ine 1
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Word History and Origins

Origin of passerine1

C18: from Latin passer sparrow
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Example Sentences

There are not more than about twenty species of small passerine birds that live all the year in London proper.

Strepera, strep′e-ra, n. an Australian genus of corvine passerine birds, the crow-shrikes.

Turdus, tur′dus, n. a genus of Passerine birds of the Turdid family, the thrushes.

Tyran′nid, a family of Passerine birds, the typical genus Tyran′nus, the tyrant-birds or tyrant-flycatchers.

The pie, the gallinaceous, the columbine and passerine tribes resort to the fruit- bearing trees.

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passeriformpas seul