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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

wheatear.

Any of various passerine birds of the genus Oenanthe that feed on insects,

8 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈʍiːtɪəɹ//ˈwiːtɪəɹ/
  1. Any of various passerine birds of the genus Oenanthe that feed on insects,

  2. Any of various passerine birds of the genus Oenanthe that feed on insects, especially, the northern wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe)

Where this word comes from

Uncertain. Probably a back-formation from Middle English whit ers (“white arse”), after the prominent white rump of many species. Compare dialect forms white rump, white-tail. Possibly a compound of wheat + ear or white + ear. Attested since the seventeenth century as wheat-ears or wheatgear.

noun/ˈʍiːtɪəɹ//ˈwiːtɪəɹ/
  1. An ear of wheat.

  2. A decorative pattern resembling an ear of wheat.

  3. An anomalous form of carnation, producing small green ears instead of flowers.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English whete-ere, equivalent to wheat + ear.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.