oriole

[ awr-ee-ohl, ohr- ]

noun
  1. any of several usually brightly colored, passerine birds of the family Oriolidae, of the Old World.: Compare golden oriole.

  2. any of several brightly colored passerine birds of the family Icteridae, of the New World.

Origin of oriole

1
1770–80; <French oriol,Old French <Medieval Latin oriolus, variant of Latin aureolus golden, equivalent to aure(us) golden (derivative of aurum gold) + -olus-ole1

Words Nearby oriole

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use oriole in a sentence

  • The next day, he spent the morning at Memorial Stadium pouring cokes at an oriole party for a hundred poor children.

  • But Father oriole heard the three willow whistles and he turned and began to whistle back—oh such a pretty song.

    Seven O'Clock Stories | Robert Gordon Anderson
  • In the fork of two high branches was a great round nest—oh ever so much bigger than the thrush's and the oriole's.

    Seven O'Clock Stories | Robert Gordon Anderson
  • Father oriole, you see, was more interested in getting fat beetles and caterpillars for food.

    Seven O'Clock Stories | Robert Gordon Anderson
  • And once Mother oriole found, caught in the shutter, little threads of Hepzebiah's hair.

    Seven O'Clock Stories | Robert Gordon Anderson
  • So for a number of days in the warm weather, and in the rainy weather too, Mother oriole sat faithfully on her nest.

    Seven O'Clock Stories | Robert Gordon Anderson

British Dictionary definitions for oriole

oriole

/ (ˈɔːrɪˌəʊl) /


noun
  1. any songbird of the mainly tropical Old World family Oriolidae, such as Oriolus oriolus (golden oriole), having a long pointed bill and a mostly yellow-and-black plumage

  2. any American songbird of the family Icteridae, esp those of the genus Icterus, such as the Baltimore oriole, with a typical male plumage of black with either orange or yellow

Origin of oriole

1
C18: from Medieval Latin oryolus, from Latin aureolus, diminutive of aureus, from aurum gold

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