Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Bunting
Bun′ting
,Noun.
[Scot.
buntlin
, corn-buntlin
, OE. bunting
, buntyle
; of unknown origin.] (Zool.)
A bird of the genus
Emberiza
, or of an allied genus, related to the finches and sparrows (family Fringillidæ
). ☞ Among European species are the common or corn bunting (
Emberiza miliaria
); the ortolan (Emberiza hortulana
); the cirl (Emberiza cirlus
); and the black-headed (Granitivora melanocephala
). American species are the bay-winged or grass (Poöcætes gramineus
or Poœcetes gramineus
); the black-throated (Spiza Americana
); the towhee bunting or chewink (Pipilo
); the snow bunting (Plectrophanax nivalis
); the rice bunting or bobolink, and others. See Ortolan
, Chewick
, Snow bunting
, Lark bunting
. Webster 1828 Edition
Bunting
BUNT'ING
,Noun.
BUNT'ING
, or BUN'TINE,Noun.
Definition 2025
Bunting
bunting
bunting
See also: Bunting
English
Noun
bunting (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.
Translations
strips of material hung as decoration
|
material from which flags are made
|
|
flags as a group
Etymology 2
A black-headed bunting (Emberiza melanocephala)
From circa 1300, from bountyng, of unknown origin. Possibly from buntin (“plump”) (compare baby bunting, Scots buntin (“short and thick”), Welsh bontin (“rump”) and bontinog (“big-arsed”)), or a double diminutive of French bon. Or possibly a reference to speckled plumage, from an unrecorded Old English word akin to German bunt (“multi-coloured”), Dutch bont.[1]
Noun
bunting (plural buntings)
- Any of various songbirds, mostly of the genus Emberiza, having short bills and brown or gray plumage.
Translations
bird
Derived terms
- black-headed bunting (Emberiza melanocephala)
- corn bunting (Emberiza calandra)
- indigo bunting (Passerina cyanea)
- painted bunting (Passerina ciris or Calcarius pictus)
- reed bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus)
- snow bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis)
Etymology 3
See bunt.
Verb
bunting
- present participle of bunt
References
Etymology
Bunting on display for day 3 of the 2012 Olympic torch relay, in Devon, UK
Possibly from dialect bunting (“sifting flour”), from Middle English bonten (“to sift”), hence the material used for that purpose.