nightingale

• IPA^(key): /ˈnaɪtɪŋɡeɪl/

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From Middle English nyghtyngale, nightingale, niȝtingale, alteration (with intrusive n) of nyghtgale, nightegale, from Old English nihtegala, nihtegale (“nightingale; night-raven”, literally “night-singer”), from Proto-Germanic *nahtigalǭ (“nightingale”), equivalent to night +‎ gale. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Noachtegoal (“nightingale”), Dutch nachtegaal (“nightingale”), German Low German Nachtigall (“nightingale”), German Nachtigall (“nightingale”), Danish nattergal (“nightingale”), Swedish näktergal (“nightingale”), Icelandic næturgali (“nightingale”).

nightingale (plural nightingales)

1. A European songbird, Luscinia megarhynchos, of the family Muscicapidae.
   • Mary Shelley, chapter 5 in the first part of The Last Man

     The oaks around were the home of a tribe of nightingales

• philomel

Named after Florence Nightingale.

nightingale (plural nightingales)

1. A kind of flannel scarf with sleeves, formerly worn by invalids when sitting up in bed.

nightingale

1. Alternative form of nyghtyngale