bunting
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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See also: Bunting
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
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Possibly from dialect bunting (“sifting flour”), from Middle English bonten (“to sift”), hence the material used for that purpose. Possibly from Germanic bundt (“to bind or tie together”).
Noun
bunting (countable and uncountable, plural buntings)
- Strips of material used as festive decoration, especially in the colours of the national flag.
- (nautical) A thin cloth of woven wool from which flags are made; it is light enough to spread in a gentle wind but resistant to fraying in a strong wind.
- Flags considered as a group.
Derived terms
Translations
strips of material hung as decoration
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material from which flags are made
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flags as a group
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Etymology 2
From Middle English bunting, bountyng, buntynge (also as Middle English buntyle), of uncertain origin. Possibly a reference to speckled plumage, from an unrecorded Middle English *bunt (“spotted, speckled, pied”) akin to Dutch bont, Middle Low German bunt, bont, German bunt (“multi-coloured”) + -ing.[1]
Noun
bunting (plural buntings)
- Any of various songbirds, mostly of the genus Emberiza, having short bills and brown or gray plumage.
Derived terms
- black-faced bunting
- black-headed bunting (Emberiza melanocephala)
- chestnut-eared bunting
- cinereous bunting
- cirl bunting
- corn bunting (Emberiza calandra)
- Cretzschmar's bunting
- gray-necked bunting
- grey-headed bunting
- grey-hooded bunting
- grey-necked bunting
- Henslow's bunting
- indigo bunting (Passerina cyanea)
- lark bunting
- LeConte's bunting
- little bunting
- ortolan bunting
- painted bunting (Passerina ciris or Calcarius pictus)
- Pallas's bunting
- pine bunting (Emberiza melanocephala
- reed bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus)
- rock bunting (Emberiza cia)
- rustic bunting
- snow bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis)
- yellow-breasted bunting
- yellow-browed bunting
- yellow bunting
Translations
bird
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Etymology 3
1922,[2] apparently from Scots buntin (“plump, short and thick (esp. of children)”),[3][4] itself an old term of endearment for children (1660s); the sense “plump” dates to the 1500s,[3] and may be related to bunt (“belly of a sail”). Possibly related to butt (“(both noun and verb sense: buttocks; strike with head)”)[3] or to bunny (“rabbit”). Compare with the nursery rhyme Bye, baby Bunting (1731), either of same origin or influenced this sense.[5]
Noun
bunting (plural buntings)
Etymology 4
Verb
bunting
- present participle and gerund of bunt
Noun
bunting (countable and uncountable, plural buntings)
References
- Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “bunting”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- “bunting”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
- Patricia T. O’Conner, Stewart Kellerman (2010 April 13) “Bye, baby bunting”, in Grammarphobia
- See John Jamieson, An Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language (1808-25): buntin “short and thick; as a buntin brat, a plump child.”
- Merriam-Webster’s New International Dictionary (unabridged 2nd edition)
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