finke.
a finch; a small, seed-eating passerine bird of the family Fringillidae, typically having a short, strong, conical bill
Meaning & usage
a finch; a small, seed-eating passerine bird of the family Fringillidae, typically having a short, strong, conical bill
a finch-like bird belonging to a family other than Fringillidae, used as the final element -fink
a hash made from finely chopped offal and sometimes meat
Where this word comes from
Borrowed from Middle Low German vinke (“finch”), from Old Saxon *fink (“finch”), from Proto-West Germanic *finki (“finch”), from Proto-Germanic *finkiz (“finch”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ping- (“small bird, sparrow”), probably imitative of a bird's call. Compare Norwegian Nynorsk fink, Danish finke, Swedish fink, German Fink, Dutch vink and English finch. The chiefly plural culinary sense is also found in Danish finker (“dish of chopped meat and offal”), historically the plural of finke (“finch”).
a lockup; a local jail cell
a railway heating van; a railway van carrying equipment that supplies heat to passenger coaches, also historically a brake, goods or conductor's van
Where this word comes from
Borrowed from Swedish finka (“prison; railway brake or heating van”), from Low German vinke (“prison”), attested in the compound vinkenbûr (“prison cage”), probably a humorous shortening of Middle Low German venknisse (“capture, captivity; prison”). The latter contains the stem of vangen (“to catch, capture”) and the suffix -nisse (“abstract noun suffix”). The verbal element ultimately continues Proto-Germanic *fanhaną (“to catch”). Its deeper origin is disputed: proposed derivations include Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- (“to secure, attach, strengthen”), or a formation from *h₂pó (“off, away”) and *h₂n(e)ḱ- (“to reach, attain”). Compare German Gefängnis and Dutch gevangenis (“prison”).
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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.