bluebird

Etymology

It is a compound from English blue + bird,^[2][3][4][5] named from the chief colour of the bird's plumage.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A small North American songbird with blue plumage: Merriam-Webster's Collegiate dates the word to 1688,^[6] Etymonline to the 1680s,^[3] and the OED and Merriam-Webster Unabridged to 1694, in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

The name was extended to other birds with blue plumage:^[8] in South Africa to glossy starlings from 1731,^[2] and to the fairy bluebirds of tropical Asia from 1839.^[2] From 1861, in the slang of the American South, a bluebird was a Northern, Unionist soldier, from the colour of the uniform.^[9] The phrase bluebird of happiness comes from Maurice Maeterlinck's 1909 play L'Oiseau bleu (The Blue Bird), in which the bird stands for the search for happiness;^[3][5] the OED records it from 1911.^[2] As an adjective, of weather with a clear blue sky and bright sun, it dates from 1933.^[7]

Timeline

• 1688 – a small North American thrush of the genus Sialia.^[6] The OED's first quotation is from 1694.^[2][7]
• 1731 – in South Africa, a glossy starling.^[2]
• 1839 – the fairy bluebird of tropical Asia.^[2]
• 1861 – in Southern American slang, a Union soldier.^[9]
• 1911 – the bluebird of happiness.^[2]
• 1933 – adjective, of clear sunny weather.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. Any of several small North American thrushes of the genus Sialia, the males of which are bright blue above, in some species with a reddish breast.^[7][8][2]
2. A fairy bluebird, a songbird of southern and southeastern Asia with black and blue plumage.^[8][7][2]
3. Any of various other birds with blue plumage, such as, in South Africa, a glossy starling.^[8][2]
4. the bluebird of happiness: happiness pictured as a bluebird, often as something hard to find.^[2][3]

Adjective

1. Of weather, with a clear blue sky, bright sunshine and few clouds: a bluebird morning on the slopes.^[7]

Word family

• fairy bluebird
• mountain bluebird
• eastern bluebird

Related words

• blue
• bird

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com