starling

See also: Starling

English
a common starling

Etymology

From Middle English starling, sterling, sterlinge, from Old English stærling, from stær (“starling”) + -ling (diminutive suffix). Cognate with Middle Dutch sterlinck (“starling”).

Pronunciation
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈstɑɹlɪŋ/
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈstɑːlɪŋ/
  • Audio (Southern England)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)lɪŋ

Noun

starling (plural starlings)

  1. A family, Sturnidae, of passerine birds.
    1. The common starling, Sturnus vulgaris, which has dark, iridescent plumage.
  2. (hydraulic engineering) An inclosure like a coffer-dam, formed of piles driven closely together, before any work or structure as a protection against the wash of the waves, commonly used to protects the piers of a bridge.
  3. One of the piles used in forming such a breakwater.
  4. A fish, rock trout (Hexagrammos spp.), of the North Pacific, especially, Hexagrammos decagrammus, found in US waters.
    Synonyms: boregat, bodieron

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