Definition: nightingale

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Source: WordNet (r) 1.7

nightingale
     n 1: European songbird noted for its melodious nocturnal song
          [syn: Luscinia megarhynchos]
     2: English nurse remembered for her work during the Crimean War
        (1820-1910) [syn: Nightingale, Florence Nightingale, the
        Lady with the Lamp]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Nightingale \Night"in*gale\, n. [OE. nihtegale,nightingale, AS.
   nihtegale; niht night + galan to sing, akin to E. yell; cf.
   D. nachtegaal, OS. nahtigala, OHG. nahtigala, G. nachtigall,
   Sw. n["a]ktergal, Dan. nattergal. See Night, and Yell.]
   1. (Zo["o]l.) A small, plain, brown and gray European song
      bird (Luscinia luscinia). It sings at night, and is
      celebrated for the sweetness of its song.

   2. (Zo["o]l.) A larger species (Lucinia philomela), of
      Eastern Europe, having similar habits; the thrush
      nightingale. The name is also applied to other allied
      species.

   Mock nightingale. (Zo["o]l.) See Blackcap, n., 1
      (a) .