hawfinch (English)

Where does "hawfinch" come from?

The English noun 'hawfinch' combines 'haw', referring to the berry of the common hawthorn, and the bird name 'finch'[1]. This descriptive term was coined by English ornithologist Francis Willughby in 1676[1] to designate the large Eurasian finch with a thick bill.

Full etymology tree

• hawfinch (English), 'A large Eurasian finch (Coccothraustes coccothraustes), with a thick bill.'
  • compound haw (English), 'Fruit of the hawthorn.'
  • compound finch (English), 'Any Eurasian goldfinch (of species Carduelis carduelis, syn. Fringilla carduelis).'

Descendants and derived words

• black-tailed hawfinch (English)

Sources

1. hawfinch (English) - Wiktionary

Updated October 2026

More words starting with H

Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris