# nightingale

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈnaɪtɪŋɡeɪl/ · frequency rank #19,918

## Definitions
1. A Eurasian and African songbird, Luscinia megarhynchos, family Muscicapidae, famed for its beautiful singing at night; a common nightingale.

## Etymology
Inherited from Middle English nyghtyngale, nightingale, niȝtingale, alteration (with intrusive n) of nyghtgale, nightegale, from Old English nihtegala, nihtegale (“nightingale; night-raven”, literally “night-singer”), from Proto-West Germanic *nahtigalā (“nightingale”), equivalent to a compound of night + gale. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Noachtegoal (“nightingale”), Dutch nachtegaal (“nightingale”), German Low German Nachtigall (“nightingale”), German Nachtigall (“nightingale”), Danish nattergal (“thrush nightingale”), Swedish näktergal (“nightingale”), Icelandic næturgali (“nightingale”).

## Common misspellings (17)
`inghtingale`, `ngihtingale`, `nigghtingale`, `nighhtingale`, `nighitngale`, `nightignale`, `nightinagle`, `nightingael`, `nightingalle`, `nightinggale`, `nightinglae`, `nightinngale`, `nightnigale`, `nighttingale`, `nigthingale`, `nihgtingale`, `nnightingale`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/nightingale