nightingale

¹

[ nahyt-n-geyl, nahy-ting- ]

noun

1. any of several small, Old World, migratory birds of the thrush family, especially Luscinia megarhynchos, of Europe, noted for the melodious song of the male, given chiefly at night during the breeding season.

Nightingale

²

[ nahyt-n-geyl, nahy-ting- ]

noun

1. Florence the Lady with the Lamp, 1820–1910, English nurse: reformer of hospital conditions and procedures; reorganizer of nurse's training programs.

nightingale

¹

/ ˈnaɪtɪŋˌɡeɪl /

noun

1. a brownish European songbird, Luscinia megarhynchos, with a broad reddish-brown tail: well known for its musical song, usually heard at night
2. any of various similar or related birds, such as Luscinia luscinia ( thrush nightingale )

Nightingale

²

/ ˈnaɪtɪŋˌɡeɪl /

noun

1. NightingaleFlorence18201910FEnglishMEDICINE: nurse Florence, known as the Lady with the Lamp. 1820–1910, English nurse, famous for her work during the Crimean War. She helped to raise the status and quality of the nursing profession and founded a training school for nurses in London (1860)

Word History and Origins

Origin of nightingale¹

1200–50; Middle English nightyngale, nasalized variant of nightegale, Old English nihtegale, cognate with German Nachtigall, literally, night singer (compare Old English galan sing; akin to yell )

Word History and Origins

Origin of nightingale¹

Old English nihtegale, literally: night-singer, from night + galan to sing

Example Sentences

Other newspapers’ nicknames for her — the California nightingale, the California skylark — were not just about her immense vocal range, but about the wonder and novelty that California, of all places, could claim such a woman.

From Los Angeles Times

Just as the familiar tune “In the Hall of the Mountain King” gradually builds speed “accelerando,” as the compositional notation is known, some birdsong does too, like that of the nightingale.

From New York Times

“The bird said...It doesn’t make a lot of sense. She said, ‘The nightingale makes them bleed, makes them pay.’

From Literature

I wonder if even Janet Malcolm might have given a pass to this devoted biographer and his own bow to a nightingale.

From Washington Post

"He knew the hardship of farmers in the 1920s and 30s but he knew it was also incredibly beautiful; there was an amazing wild profusion of yellowhammers, nightingales, linnets, that are a rare sight today."

From BBC

Related Words

• artist
• crooner
• diva
• musician
• soloist
• vocalist
• voice