titmouse

  • 1Titmouse — Tit mouse , n.; pl. {Titmice}. [OE. titemose, titmase; tit small, or a small bird + AS. m[=a]se a kind of small bird; akin to D. mees a titmouse, G. meise, OHG. meisa, Icel. meisingr. The English form has been influenced by the unrelated word… …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 2titmouse — [tit′mous΄] n. pl. titmice [tit′mīs΄] [altered, infl. by MOUSE < ME titemose, prob. < tit , little + OE mase, titmouse, akin to Ger meise] any of a family (Paridae) of small passerine birds found throughout the world except in South America …

    English World dictionary

  • 3titmouse — (n.) small, active bird, early 14c., titmose, from TIT (Cf. tit) (n.2) (expressing something small) + O.E. mase titmouse, from P.Gmc. *maison (Cf. Du. mees, Ger. meise), from adj. *maisa little, tiny. Spelling influenced 16c. by unrelated mo …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 4titmouse — ► NOUN (pl. titmice) ▪ a small songbird, typically foraging acrobatically among foliage and branches. ORIGIN from TIT(Cf. ↑tit) + obsolete mose «titmouse» …

    English terms dictionary

  • 5titmouse — /tit mows /, n., pl. titmice / muys /. any of numerous, widely distributed, small songbirds of the family Paridae, esp. of the genus Parus, having soft, thick plumage and a short, stout, conical bill. Cf. tufted titmouse. [1275 1325; ME… …

    Universalium

  • 6titmouse — noun (plural titmice) Etymology: by folk etymology from Middle English titmose, from *tit any small object or creature + mose titmouse, from Old English māse; akin to Old High German meisa titmouse Date: 14th century any of several small North… …

    New Collegiate Dictionary

  • 7titmouse — UK [ˈtɪtˌmaʊs] / US noun [countable] Word forms titmouse : singular titmouse plural titmice a small bird …

    English dictionary

  • 8titmouse — tit•mouse [[t]ˈtɪtˌmaʊs[/t]] n. pl. mice [[t] ˌmaɪs[/t]] orn any of various small, stout billed songbirds of the family Paridae, esp. of the genus Parus, found in most of the world outside of Australasia and South America • Etymology: 1275–1325;… …

    From formal English to slang

  • 9titmouse — noun (plural titmice) a small songbird, typically foraging acrobatically among foliage and branches. [Many species, chiefly in the family Paridae.] Origin ME: from tit1 + obs. mose titmouse (assimilated to mouse) …

    English new terms dictionary

  • 10titmouse — /ˈtɪtmaʊs/ (say titmows) noun (plural titmice /ˈtɪtmaɪs/ (say titmuys)) any of various small birds constituting the family Paridae, as Parus atricapillus of the New and Old Worlds. {Middle English titmose, from tit1 + mose (Old English māse)… …

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