tanager

American  

[tan-uh-jer] / ˈtæn ə dʒər /

noun

1. Also called true tanager.  any of numerous small New World songbirds of the family Thraupidae (tanager family), the males of which are usually brightly colored, including the multicolored green-headed tanager , Tangara seledon, of South America.

2. cardinal.

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tanager British  

/ ˈtænədʒə /

noun

1. any American songbird of the family Thraupidae, having a short thick bill and a brilliantly coloured male plumage

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Etymology

Origin of tanager

First recorded in 1605–15; from New Latin tanagra, metathetic variant of Tupi tangara

Example Sentences

The report of the scarlet tanager in Shelf, near Halifax, is believed to be the first time one of the birds has been sighted in Yorkshire.

From BBC • Nov. 12, 2024

The team named their find the inti tanager, after the word for “sun” in the indigenous Quechua and Aymara languages, with the proposed species name Heliothraupis oneilli.

From Slate • Nov. 20, 2021

Leaves remembering, sudden as a name Recalled from nowhere, remembering morning, Fresh wind in high grass, cricket on plowshare, Whisper of stream in the green-shadowed place, Thrush and tanager keeping season.

From New York Times • Mar. 15, 2019

He carried the colorful headband that he had been wearing all week—made from toucan and tanager feathers—in a plastic food container.

From The New Yorker • Oct. 10, 2018

They circle over the Beauty Minister like tanager birds looking for their nest.

From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton