Definition of nightingale Nightingale

/najˈtɪŋgejl/ - [naytinggeyl] - Night•in•gale

We found 11 definitions of nightingale from 8 different sources.

What does nightingale mean?

WordNet

Noun Plural: nightingales
nightingale - European songbird noted for its melodious nocturnal song
		Luscinia megarhynchos
		thrush songbirds characteristically having brownish upper plumage with a spotted breast
		genus luscinia, luscinia nightingales
nightingale - English nurse remembered for her work during the Crimean War (1820-1910)
		Florence Nightingale, Lady with the Lamp

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Wiktionary

nightingale (Noun)
A European songbird, Luscinia megarhynchos, of the family Turdidae.

Webster DictionaryWebster's Unabridged Dictionary 📘

nightingale (n.)
A small, plain, brown and gray European song bird (Luscinia luscinia). It sings at night, and is celebrated for the sweetness of its song.
nightingale (n.)
A larger species (Lucinia philomela), of Eastern Europe, having similar habits; the thrush nightingale. The name is also applied to other allied species.

OmegaWiki DictionaryOmegaWiki Dictionary Ω

nightingale
(Luscinia megarhynchos) A songbird.

Chambers DictionaryChamber's 20th Century Dictionary 📕

nightingale
nīt′in-gāl, n. a small sylviine bird, of the Passerine family, widely distributed in the Old World, celebrated for the rich love-song of the male heard chiefly at night. [A.S. nihtegale—niht, night, galan, to sing; Ger. nachtigall.]
nightingale
nīt′in-gāl, n. a kind of flannel scarf with sleeves, worn by invalids when sitting up in bed. [From the famous Crimean hospital nurse, Florence Nightingale, born 1820.]

Vulgar Tongue DictionaryDictionary of the Vulgar Tongue 👅

nightingale
A soldier who, as the term is, sings out at the halberts. It is a point of honour in some regiments, among the grenadiers, never to cry out, become nightingales, whilst under the discipline of the cat of nine tails; to avoid which, they chew a bullet.

Wikipedia

The Nightingale ("Luscinia megarhynchos") is a small bird. It is also known as Rufous and Common Nightingale. It used to be classed as a member of the Thrush family Turdidae. It belongs to a group of more terrestrial species, often called chats.

The Nightingale is slightly larger than the European Robin, at 15-16.5 cm length. It is plain brown above except for the reddish tail. It is buff to white below. Sexes are similar.

Nightingales are named so because they frequently sing at night as well as during the day. The name has been used for well over 1,000 years, being highly recognizable even in its Anglo-Saxon form - 'nihtingale'. It means 'night songstress'. Early writers assumed the female sang; in fact, it is the male. The male nightingale is known for his singing, to the extent that human singers are sometimes admiringly referred to as nightingales; the song is loud, with an impressive range of whistles, trills and gurgles. Its song is particularly noticeable at night because few other birds are singing. This is why its name (in several languages) includes "night". Only unpaired males sing regularly at night, and nocturnal song is likely to serve attracting a mate. Singing at dawn, during the hour before sunrise, is assumed to be important in defending the bird's territory. Nightingales sing even more loudly in urban or near-urban environments, in order to overcome the background noise. The most characteristic feature of the song is a loud whistling crescendo, absent from