fink, noun

/fɪŋk/
Origin:
South African DutchShow more Englished form of South African Dutch vink finch.
a. Any of several species of bird of the Ploceidae, including those of the genera Euplectes (commonly known as bishops and widows), Ploceus (weavers), and Quelea; vink sense a.
a1823 J. Ewart Jrnl (1970) 81Wheat is very productive...It has a great enemy in a small bird called the fink which perch upon it in flocks of several thousands.
1853 Edin. New Philos. Jrnl (U.K.) LV. 82The yellow and green finks may be seen disporting in multitudes..and entering every now and then into their grass-woven nests.
1867 E.L. Layard Birds of S. Afr. 185On his being addressed as ‘Fink,’ he instantly replied, stretching his neck to the utmost, and uttering the most piercing, discordant shriek.
1894 E. Glanville Fair Colonist 87The pendant nests of the noisy finks hung like suspended flasks to the slender arms of the trailing willow.
1910 D. Fairbridge That Which Hath Been (1913) 119Scarlet and black finks whirred through the clean air.
1913 D. Fairbridge Piet of Italy 136Weeping-willows drooped over the water, and yellow finks swung on their pendulous nests, suspended from the frail branches, shrieking, twisting, gesticulating as only a yellow fink can.
1918 S.H. Skaife Animal Life in S. Afr. 247The weaver-birds, or finks, all build covered nests suspended from trees or reeds, thus differing from most finches.
1920 R.Y. Stormberg Mrs Pieter de Bruyn 7It has been vandalised by swarms of ‘finks’ and..‘muisvogels’ who snip off the blooms most viciously.
1942 S. Cloete Hill of Doves 92To his right, a fink twittered.
1947 E.R. Seary S. Afr. Short StoriesGlossary, Fink, (Vink in Afrikaans): several species of weaver birds.
1951 R. Griffiths Grey about Flame 30In the reed beds the black and scarlet finks were shrill about their plaited nests.
1977 S. Afr. Panorama Oct. 27Great nest-builders are the finks and weavers.
[1987 Frontline Mar. 22When he should have been going to school he was herding cattle and chasing finke out of the wheat.]
b. obsolescent With defining word: blood fink, kaffir fink, red fink, or scarlet fink, the red bishop bird Euplectes orix; red vink, see vink sense b.
1889 H.A. Bryden Kloof & Karroo 15We saw and shot the red fink, sometimes called the red grenadier grosbeak (Ploceus oryx).
1896 A. Page Afternoon Ride 62The Kafir fink swaying on the grass.
1899 R.B. & J.D.S. Woodward Natal Birds 70It (sc. the Bishop bird, Pyromelana oryx) is popularly known as the ‘Blood fink,’ and..the male bird has several little brown females.
1900 H.A. Bryden Animals of Afr. 160One of the most beautiful of the many kinds of weaver-birds in Africa is the splendid Red Kaffir Finch, the Rooi fink of the Dutch colonists, sometimes also called the Red Bishop-bird.
1936 R. Campbell Mithraic Emblems 34The scarlet fink, the chook, the sprew, that seem to call me by my name.
Any of several species of bird of the Ploceidae, including those of the genera Euplectes (commonly known as bishops and widows), Ploceus (weavers), and Quelea; vink sense a.
With defining word: blood fink, kaffir fink, red fink, or scarlet fink,the red bishop bird Euplectes orix; red vink, see vink sense b.
Entry Navigation

Visualise Quotations

Quotation summary

Senses

18231987

Browse Related Words

By Category

Birds

By Usage

obsolete or obsolescent
Fingo, nounn.finrand, nounn.
Copyright © 2025 Dictionary Unit for South African English