Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Any of several small, grayish North American birds of the genus Regulus, having a yellowish or reddish patch on the crown of the head.
- n. A king ruling a kingdom considered small or unimportant.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A little king; a weak or insignificant king.
- n. A golden-crested or ruby-crowned wren: one of a number of very diminutive greenish birds, about 4 inches long, having a yellow, orange, or flaming crest, constituting the subfamily Regulinæ. The best-known is the European goldcrest, Regudus cristatus. (See cut under
goldcrest .) Two distinct United States species are the golden-crowned, R. satrapa, and the ruby-crowned, R. calendula, both very common in woodland and shrubbery. They are dainty little birds in form, color, and manners, having an exquisite song of great volume considering their tiny size. They are migratory and insectivorous, build very bulky mossy nests warmly lined with feathers, and lay numerous white eggs spotted with reddish brown.
Wiktionary
- n. A petty king; a king ruling over a small or unimportant territory.
- n. A bird of the crest family (Regulidae).
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A little king; a weak or insignificant king.
- n. (Zoöl.) Any one of several species of small singing birds of the genus Regulus and family
Sylviidæ .
WordNet 3.0
- n. small birds resembling warblers but having some of the habits of titmice
Etymologies
- From king + -let. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“For the kinglet was a small boy with a long, freckled face, blue eyes, a pug nose, and black hair banged across his forehead, and hanging in lank, straight locks far down over his shoulders.”
“Among the birds enumerated by Kuhn and others as representing the storm-cloud are likewise the wren or "kinglet" (French roitelet); the owl, sacred to Athene; the cuckoo, stork, and sparrow; and the red-breasted robin, whose name Robert was originally an epithet of the lightning-god Thor.”
Myths and Myth-makers: Old Tales and Superstitions Interpreted by Comparative Mythology
“Our kinglet is a hard master," said he, with a sigh, "and I really wish some one would get up a revolution and dethrone him.”
“Martyr says: "They call a kinglet (_regulus_) Cacicus, as we have said elsewhere, in other places Quebi, in some places also Tiba.”
“Suspecting a ruby-crowned kinglet, I confirmed its identity on the app, then hit the birdsong play button.”
“We saw an energetic, olive-colored bird in the sugar bush, a ruby-crowned kinglet, which Eric called the smallest bird with the biggest song.”
“Certainly he did not give voice to the contempt that he felt for this petty kinglet and mageling.”
“Common birds include the mountain bluebird, chestnut-backed chickadee, red-breasted nuthatch, ruby-crowned kinglet, pygmy nuthatch, gray jay, Steller's jay, and Clark's nutcracker.”
Southern Rocky Mountain Steppe - OpenWoodland - Coniferous Forest - Alpine Meadow Province (Bailey)
“Regulus satrapa by Dave Rintoul — golden-crowned kinglet, male, captured at a winter bird-banding site near Ft.”
“Regulus satrapa – golden-crowned kinglet, male, captured at a winter bird-banding site near Ft.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘kinglet’.
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king phrases/words
how king is used
king's ale, Kings, king-ale, king and country, king-apple, King Arthur, king-auk, king-ball, king-bane, king-becoming, king-bee, king-bishop and 227 more...
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birds
birds with singular names from
at least 9 English dictionariesaasvogel, aberdevine, accentor, accipiter, aepyornis, agami, albatross, alcatras, alcid, alcidine, amadavat, amokura and 1056 more...
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Letterrorists
A bunch of -let words, emphasis on the diminutive. Feel free to neologize.
booklet, flatlet, haslet, nutlet, platelet, streamlet, varlet, aglet, gablet, leaflet, piglet, ringlet and 504 more...
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the (chained) unbearable cuteness of ...
You know what I'm talking about. Look for the images...
tapir, pangolin, pika, chunky baby chow ..., roundbelly cowfish, tree octopus, turtlenecked stra..., furze-pig, otter, bilby, wallaby, meerkat and 43 more...
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Diminutives actually formed with -let...
As opposed to members of that other list.
armlet, ringlet, kinglet, streamlet, cloudlet, leaflet, booklet, brooklet, courtlet, crownlet, dukelet, hooklet and 6 more...
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More Bird Wirds: North America
Birds endemic to the United States and/or North America.
toucan, peacock, weaver, bullfinch, redpoll, siskin, crossbill, finch, rosy-finch, oriole, cowbird, blackbird and 213 more...
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Flora and Fauna
poa annua, pooka, vole, bestiary, popple, turgor, starling, sharpy, copse, coreopsis, clove, corvid and 348 more...
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Seven
turnskin, therianthrope, mimic, mimical, mimetic, animagus, selkie, incantatory, cynanthrope, therianthropy, nagual, pooka and 200 more...
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Words
hum, ruby, pancake, clove, quail, pooka, alula, kinglet, willow, opal, arch, canoe and 18 more...
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perhapsolutely's Words
polyradiculoneuro..., abulia, abubble, abscission, abaft, zareba, abatis, abigail, abiogenesis, ablate, ablaut, abo and 1705 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for kinglet.
reesetee Yes! I think it looks even more so because it has a little round head with no "shoulders" to speak of. Aug 11, 2008
bilby So plump! Aug 11, 2008
reesetee Unbearably cute. Aug 10, 2008