centzontle
See also: centzontlé
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Spanish cenzontle, from Classical Nahuatl centzontleh, shortened form of centzontlahtōleh (“mockingbird”, literally “possessor of four hundred words”), from centzontli (“four hundred, a count of four hundred”) + tlahtōlli (“language, word, statement”) + -eh (“possessor of”).
Pronunciation edit
Audio (US, Northern California) (file)
Noun edit
centzontle (plural centzontles)
- (rare) A mockingbird.
- 1961, Oscar Lewis, The Children of Sánchez: Autobiography of a Mexican Family:
- He had bought young centzontles and it was Roberto's and Manuel's job to whistle at them until they learned to sing. But the birds picked at the cane and made an opening through which a dozen and a half escaped.