: any of various usually brightly colored Old World passerine birds (family Oriolidae and especially genus Oriolus)
2
: any of various New World passerine birds (genus Icterus of the family Icteridae) of which the males are usually black and yellow or black and orange
Illustration of oriole
oriole 2
Examples of oriole in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the WebThe normal events of spring often unfold slowly, but this year the colorful orioles, the wren nesting cycle, glorious wildflower blooms and even the tiny bushtits all showed up around the same time.—Ernie Cowan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 Mar. 2024 Making themselves at home, hooded orioles will use hummingbird feeders and make woven nests out of plants, such as large birds of paradise and banana trees, Burns said, both of which grow well in San Diego.—Maura Fox, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Feb. 2024 Hooded oriole The hooded oriole is a common bird in San Diego during springtime.—Maura Fox, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Feb. 2024 There are other types of orioles that may show up, too.—Taylor Piephoff, Charlotte Observer, 31 Jan. 2024 Baltimore orioles should be fairly easy to identify as orioles.—Taylor Piephoff, Charlotte Observer, 31 Jan. 2024 And also discovers the phony oriole perched on the bird feeder.—Irv Erdos, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Apr. 2023 Within days, the summer hubbub of busy orioles was replaced by the arrival at our seed feeders of a raucous bird with a new name.—Ernie Cowan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Sep. 2023 At the end of the summer, Southern California waves goodbye to migrating cliff swallows, hooded orioles, and black-headed grosbeaks.—Christianna Silva, Better Homes & Gardens, 11 Sep. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'oriole.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
New Latin oriolus, from Medieval Latin, from Old French oriol, from Latin aureolus golden-colored, diminutive of aureus golden — more at aureus
: any of various usually brightly colored Old World birds related to the crows
2
: any of various New World birds that build hanging nests woven from various materials (as grass and leaves) and the males of which are usually black and yellow or orange and the females chiefly greenish or yellowish
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