titmouse

titmouse
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 American oscine birds (genus Baeolophus of the family Paridae) that are related to the chickadees, have small bills and usually long tails, and have been sometimes placed especially formerly in a related genus (Parus)

New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.

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  • Titmouse — 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

  • titmouse — [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

  • titmouse — (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

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

  • titmouse — /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

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

  • titmouse — 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

  • titmouse — 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

  • titmouse — /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)… …  

  • titmouse — n. (pl. titmice) any of various small tits, esp. of the genus Parus. Etymology: ME titmose f. TIT(1) + OE mase titmouse, assim. to MOUSE …   Useful english dictionary

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