robin

Etymology

Short for robin redbreast. Also from Middle English robynet, robynett (“robin (bird)”), from the Middle English name Robynett, a diminutive of the Middle English name Robyn (“Robin”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɹɒb.ɪn/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒbɪn
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɹɑb.ɪn/
• Rhymes: -ɑbɪn
• Hyphenation: rob‧in

Noun

robin (plural robins)

1. Various passerine birds (about 100 species) of the families Muscicapidae, Turdidae and Petroicidae (formerly Eopsaltriidae), typically with a red breast.
   1. A European robin; Erithacus rubecula.
      • 1922, Michael Arlen, “Ep./4/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:

        As they turned into Hertford Street they startled a robin from the poet's head on a barren fountain, and he fled away with a cameo note.

   2. An American robin; Turdus migratorius.

See also

• round-robin

References

• European robin on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Erithacus rubecula on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
• Erithacus rubecula on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• American robin on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Turdus migratorius on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
• Turdus migratorius on Wikispecies.Wikispecies

Anagrams

• Biron, Brion, inorb

Verb

robin

1. third-person plural present subjunctive form of robar
2. third-person plural imperative form of robar

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁɔ.bɛ̃/

Etymology 1

Familiar form of Robert.

Etymology 2

Derivative of robe, in the phrase homme de robe (“man of the gown”).

Further reading

• “robin” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).