Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “pinefinch” come from?

pinefinch (English) comes from English finch, from Middle English fynch, from Old English finċ, from Proto-Germanic finkiz, from Proto-Indo-European (s)pingos — chaffinch.

pinefinch (English): A small American bird ; the pine siskin or...

Definitions

  1. A small American bird ; the pine siskin or...

Ancestry of “pinefinch”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishfinchAny bird of the family Fringillidae, seed-eating...
2Middle Englishfynch—
3Old Englishfinċfinch
4Proto-Germanicfinkizfinch
5Proto-Indo-European(s)pingoschaffinch
Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)pingos →