linnet

American  

[lin-it] / ˈlɪn ɪt /

noun

1. a small Old World finch, Carduelis cannabina.

2. any of various related birds, as the house finch.

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linnet British  

/ ˈlɪnɪt /

noun

1. a brownish Old World finch, Acanthis cannabina : the male has a red breast and forehead

2. Also called: house finch.  a similar and related North American bird, Carpodacus mexicanus

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Etymology

Origin of linnet

1520–30; earlier linet < Middle French (Walloon, Picard ) linette ( French linot, linotte ), derivative of lin flax ( cf. line ¹; so named for its diet of flaxseeds); see -et

Example Sentences

In another ambivalent characterization, the newlywed Linnet Ridgeway, who in the book trod a fine line between sympathetic and spoiled, now ricochets between heroine and villainess.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 11, 2022

Within weeks, Linnet and Simon are having a destination wedding in Egypt, where Poirot is a last-minute guest and a furious, vengeful Jacqueline stalks the happy couple at every turn.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 7, 2022

In some stories she revisited characters, most prominently Linnet Muir, the independent young woman who, more than any of her other protagonists, Ms. Gallant said, reflected her own life.

From New York Times • Feb. 18, 2014

Linnet devotes herself one summer to seeking out her father’s friends to determine how he had died.

From New York Times • Feb. 18, 2014

Farther down the bay, the "Ticonderoga" had just driven away the last of the British galleys; so that the "Linnet" now alone upheld the cause of the enemy.

From The Naval History of the United States Volume 2 by Jackson, W. C.