magpie means one of several kinds of bird in the family Corvidae, especially Pica pica.
magpie is pronounced /ˈmæɡˌpaɪ/.
Why “magpie” is a great word
A black-and-white bird of the corvid family known for its chattering call and, by extension, a person who collects miscellaneous objects or the act of marking with contrasting patches. From Mag, a nickname for Margaret used to denote a chatterer, + archaic pie ("magpie"), from Middle English pie, pye, from Old French pie, from Latin pīca ("magpie"), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peyk- ("woodpecker, magpie"). Unlike "hoarder," which suggests joyless accumulation, or "piebald," which neutrally describes a pattern, "magpie" embodies a creature of capricious gleam. It is the glint of foil snatched into a nest, the clandestine hoard of bottle caps and lost earrings, the scattered patches of sunlight on a forest floor—the restless compulsion to find a treasury in the transient and to make meaning from the mere act of seeking.
Etymology
From Mag, a nickname for Margaret that was used to denote a chatterer, + archaic pie (“magpie”), from Middle English pie, pye, from Old French pie, from Latin pīca, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peyk- (“woodpecker, magpie”). Displaced native Old English agu (“magpie”) and Middle English aguster (“magpie”), whence English haggister.
noun
- One of several kinds of bird in the family Corvidae, especially Pica pica.
- A superficially similar Australian bird, Gymnorhina tibicen, in the family Artamidae.
- Someone who displays a magpie-like quality such as hoarding or stealing objects.e.g.“Not only is Mr. Booker a voracious magpie (who does not always acknowledge the sources of his ideas), but he also turns out to be an annoyingly biased and didactic one.” — 2005 April 15, Michiko Kakutani, “The Plot Thins, or Are No Stories New?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
- A fan or member of Newcastle United F.C.
- In the sport of fullbore target rifle, the third circle on a target, between the inner and outer.
- A halfpenny.
- A pattern resembling the pied plumage of a magpie.e.g.“Kitty and I were engaged. The next day I met those accursed “magpie” Jhampanies at the back of Jakko, and, moved by some passing sentiment of pity, stopped to tell Mrs. Wessington everything.” — 1888, Rudyard Kipling, “The Phantom Rickshaw”, in The Phantom 'Rickshaw and Other Tales, Allahabad: A.H. Wheeler and Co., page 12:
- Someone connected with Newcastle United Football Club, as a fan, player, coach, etc.
- Someone connected with Notts County Football Club, as a fan, player, coach, etc.
- Someone connected with Collingwood Football Club, as a fan, player, coach, etc.
- Someone connected with the Western Suburbs Magpies, as a fan, player, coach, etc.
- A town in the City of Ballarat, central western Victoria, Australia.
verb
- To mark with patches of black and white or light and dark.e.g.“The little rail-enclosed plots that lay between the pavements and the hotels were magpied with torn paper […]” — 1914, Oliver Onions, Mushroom Town, New York: George H. Doran, Part 4, Chapter 3, pp. 292-293:
- To steal or hoard (items) as magpies are believed to do.
- To talk idly; to talk about other people's private business.e.g.“He knew how people were magpieing with their malicious chatter that she had committed the cardinal sin of believing love was permanent […]” — 1978, Jean Rikhoff, Where Were You in ’76?, New York: Richard Marek Publishers, Book 1, Chapter 2, p. 28:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- cissa 58% match — Any magpie of the genus Cissa. vs magpie →
- corbie 56% match — A raven or crow (typically Corvus corax). vs magpie →
- jackdaw 56% match — A bird of the genus Coloeus, similar in appearance to crows and found within the same family; traditionally associated with church towers and ruins, where it frequently likes to nest. vs magpie →
- butcherbird 55% match — Any of the magpie-like birds in the genus Cracticus, of Australia and New Guinea. vs magpie →
- pitta 55% match — Any passerine belonging to the taxonomic family Pittidae. vs magpie →
- chickadee 55% match — Any of the small, mostly black and white North American songbirds of the genus Poecile of the family Paridae. vs magpie →
- popinjay 55% match — A parrot. vs magpie →
- pickmaw 54% match — The black-headed gull. vs magpie →