titmouse
noun
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L329390 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈtɪtmaʊs/
noun
Etymology: From Middle English titmose, compound of tit (“small bird”) and mose, from Old English māse (“titmouse”), from Proto-West Germanic *maisā, from Proto-Germanic *maisǭ (compare Dutch mees, German Meise, Old Norse meisingr, French mésange), from *maisaz (“tiny, puny”) (compare Norwegian meis (“skinny weakling”)). Spelling as well as the plural form in imitation of the otherwise unrelated mouse.
- Any small passerine bird mostly of the genus Baeolophus, which are found in the woods of the Northern Hemisphere and of Africa.