passerines

Noun

passerine (plural passerines)

1. Any bird of the order Passeriformes, which comprises more than half of all bird species.
   • If we examine the names of the Orders of Birds, we find that they are in Latin, […] We might venture to anglicize the terminations of the names which Cuvier gives to the divisions of these Orders: thus the Predators are the Diurnals and the Nocturnals; the Passerines are the Dentirostres, the...1840, William Whewell, “Aphorisms Concerning the Language of Science. Aphorism XVI. In the Composition and Inflexion of Technical Terms, Philological Analogies are to be Preserved if Possible, but...

   Synonyms:

   passeriform, perching bird

   Antonyms:

   nonpasserine

See all 3 meanings of passerine