mockingbird

Etymology

It is formed from English mocking + bird,^[2][3][4][5] with the present participle of mock used as an adjective,^[3][4] after the bird's skill in imitating the notes of other birds.^[6][7][1] The shorter name mock-bird is slightly older, recorded from 1649.^[2][3][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

An American songbird that imitates the calls of other birds: 1676, in a report from Virginia in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, which says that besides its own notes "he imitateth all the birds in the woods".^[2][8] Merriam-Webster gives the same year,^[6][9] and Dictionary.com dates it to 1670–80 and marks it as an Americanism.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The word began as the name of the common bird of the southern United States now called the northern mockingbird.^[2][6][8] In 1731 Catesby wrote that the Native Americans called it "four hundred tongues", while the English called it the mock-bird.^[8] From 1709 the name was also given regionally in the United States to related birds now usually called catbirds or thrashers, especially the brown thrasher,^[2][8] and since 1777 to other birds that mimic sounds, such as the tui in New Zealand and lyrebirds in Australia.^[2] In Australia it also names a small scrub bird noted for its mimicry.^[10] Rhyming slang used mockingbird for "word" (recorded 1960) and, in Australia, for a turd (1983).^[11]

Timeline

• 1676 – an American songbird that mimics other birds.^[2][6][9][8]
• 1709 – in the United States, regionally, other birds of the same family, especially the brown thrasher.^[2]
• 1777 – other mimicking birds, such as the New Zealand tui and Australian lyrebirds.^[2]
• 1960 – rhyming slang for word.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A grey and white American songbird with a long tail (Mimus polyglottos), known for mimicking the songs of other birds; also any related bird of the family Mimidae.^{[6][7][2][10]}
2. (US regional) Any of several related birds, especially the brown thrasher.^[2][8]
3. Any of various other birds that mimic sounds, such as a lyrebird or a small Australian scrub bird.^[2][10]

Related words

• mock

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b c d e f g Cassidy, Frederic G. & Joan Houston Hall (eds.) (1985–2002), Dictionary of American Regional English, vols I–IV, Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press
9. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
11. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com