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thrush (n.1)
type of songbird, Old English þræsce, variant of þrysce, from Proto-Germanic *thruskjon (source also of Old Norse þröstr, Norwegian trost, Old High German drosca), from PIE *trozdo- (source also of Latin turdus, Lithuanian strazdas "thrush," Middle Irish truid, Welsh drudwy "starling," Old Church Slavonic drozgu, Russian drozdu).
An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small,
In blast-beruffled plume,
Had chosen thus to fling his soul
Upon the growing gloom.
[Hardy, "The Darkling Thrush," Dec. 31, 1900]
thrush (n.2)
throat disease, 1660s, probably from a Scandinavian source (such as Norwegian, Danish trøske, Swedish torsk), but its roots and original meaning are unclear.
updated on December 21, 2021
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