# wagtail

> English word · Noun · frequency rank #93,313

## Definitions
1. Any of various small passerine birds, principally of genus Motacilla, of the Old World, notable for their long tails.
2. Ellipsis of wagtail platy.

## Etymology
From a partial suppletion of Middle English wagstert (literally “wag-tail”), equivalent to wag + tail.

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