Word.ws English Dictionary

wheatear

/ˈʍiːtɪəɹ/

wheatear noun: any of various passerine birds of the genus Oenanthe that feed on insects,.

Noun (1)

wheatear (plural wheatears)

  1. Any of various passerine birds of the genus Oenanthe that feed on insects,
    • What abundance of Hens, Ducks, Geese, Turkeys, Pigeons, and Larks? [...] Maychit, Stint, Sea-Plover, Pewits, Redshanks, Rayles, and Wheat-ears, Herrons, Cranes, Bitterns, Bustards, Puffins, God-wits,1669, Edward Chamberlayne, Angliae Notitia; or, The Present State of England, London: T.N. for John Martyn, →OCLC, page 6
    • great plenty of the birds so much admired at Tunbridge under the name of wheat-ears. By-the-bye, this is a pleasant corruption of white-a—se, the translation of the French name cul blanc, taken from their color; for they are actually white towards the tail.1796, Tobias Smollett, The miscellaneous works of Tobias Smollett, M.D. With memoirs of his life and writings, Edinburgh: J. Mundell, →OCLC, page 21
    1. especially, the northern wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe)

Noun (2)

wheatear (plural wheatears)

  1. An ear of wheat.
  2. A decorative pattern resembling an ear of wheat.
  3. An anomalous form of carnation, producing small green ears instead of flowers.

wheatear meaning in Tamil

wheatear in Tamil

நமது பூமியில் காணப்படும் பறவைகளில், இது ஒரு சிறப்பு இனமாகும்

Synonyms of wheatear

Forms of wheatear

pluralwheatears
alternative formwhite-ear

Origin of wheatear

Uncertain. Probably a back-formation from Middle English whit ers (“white arse”), after the prominent white rump of many species. Compare dialect forms white rump, white-tail. Possibly a compound of wheat + ear or white + ear. Attested since the seventeenth century as wheat-ears or wheatgear.

From Middle English whete-ere, equivalent to wheat + ear.

Words formed from wheatear

Phrases with wheatear

Questions about wheatear

What does wheatear mean?
Wheatear means any of various passerine birds of the genus Oenanthe that feed on insects,.
What is wheatear in Tamil?
Wheatear in Tamil is நமது பூமியில் காணப்படும் பறவைகளில், இது ஒரு சிறப்பு இனமாகும். See Wheatear meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is wheatear?
Wheatear is a noun.
How do you pronounce wheatear?
Wheatear is pronounced /ˈʍiːtɪəɹ/.
What is the plural of wheatear?
The plural of wheatear is wheatears.

Words near wheatear in the dictionary

  1. wheatbread
  2. wheatbreads
  3. Wheatcroft
  4. Wheatcrofts
  5. wheate
  6. wheatear
  7. wheatear stitch
  8. wheatear stitches
  9. wheatears
  10. wheated
  11. wheaten

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: wheatear (page history and authors); wheatear (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-wheatear.wav.

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