Oriole

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Oriole \O"ri*ole\, n. [OF. oriol, oriouz, orieus, F. loriot (for
     l'oriol), fr. L. aureolus golden, dim. of aureus golden, fr.
     aurum gold. Cf. {Aureole}, {Oriel}, {Loriot}.] (Zool.)
     (a) Any one of various species of Old World singing birds of
         the family {Oriolidae}. They are usually conspicuously
         colored with yellow and black. The European or golden


         oriole ({Oriolus galbula}, or {Oriolus oriolus}) has a
         very musical flutelike note.
     (b) In America, any one of several species of the genus
         {Icterus}, belonging to the family {Icteridae}. See
         {Baltimore oriole}, and {Orchard oriole}, under
         {Orchard}.
         [1913 Webster]
  
     {Crested oriole}. (Zool.) See {Cassican}.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  oriole
       n 1: mostly tropical songbird; the male is usually bright orange
            and black [syn: {Old World oriole}]
       2: American songbird; male is black and orange or yellow [syn:
          {New World oriole}, {American oriole}]