Oriole
/ˈɔːri.oʊl/noun
A brightly colored songbird, especially one of the genus Icterus in the Americas.
Did you know?Oriole comes from Latin aureolus, “golden,” the same root behind words tied to gold and radiance, so the bird was named for its shimmering, sunlit plumage.
Etymological Timeline
Latin
Latin
aureolus
“golden; gilded; shining like gold”
Old French
Old French
oriol
“a golden oriole; a bright yellow bird”
Middle English
English
oriole
“a bird with golden-yellow plumage”
Modern English
English
oriole
“any of several bright, often yellow-and-black songbirds”