lintwhite

English
a common linnet (Linaria cannabina) or lintwhite

Etymology

From Middle English lynkwhytte, lyngwhitte (also as Middle English lindetvigle), from Old English līnetwige, līnetwigle (“linnet”).

Noun

lintwhite (plural lintwhites)

  1. (archaic) A linnet.
    • 1785, Robert Burns, Epistle To William Simson Schoolmaster, Ochiltree::
      O sweet are Coila's haughs an' woods, / When lintwhites chant amang the buds,
    • 1830, Tennyson Alfred Lord, “"Claribel"”, in Poems Chiefly Lyrical‎:
      At midnight the moon cometh, / And looketh down alone; / Her song the lintwhite swelleth, / The clear voiced mavis dwelleth […]
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