bunting
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bunting¹
- /ˈbʌntɪŋ/ UK, US
Rhymes with -ʌntɪŋ
Where it comes from
Possibly from dialect bunting (“sifting flour”), from Middle English bonten (“to sift”), hence the material used for that purpose.
Possibly from Germanic bundt (“to bind or tie together”).
noun buntings
- Strips of material used as festive decoration, especially in the colours of the national flag.
- A thin cloth of woven wool from which flags are made; it is light enough to spread in a gentle wind but resistant to fraying in a strong wind.
- Flags considered as a group.
bunting²
- /ˈbʌntɪŋ/ UK, US
Rhymes with -ʌntɪŋ
Where it comes from
From Middle English bunting, bountyng, buntynge (also as Middle English buntyle), of uncertain origin. Possibly a reference to speckled plumage, from an unrecorded Middle English *bunt (“spotted, speckled, pied”) akin to Dutch bont, Middle Low German bunt, bont, German bunt (“multi-coloured”) + -ing.
noun buntings
- Any of various songbirds of the genus Emberiza, having short bills and brown or gray plumage.
bunting³
- /ˈbʌntɪŋ/ UK, US
Rhymes with -ʌntɪŋ
Where it comes from
1922, apparently from Scots buntin (“plump, short and thick (esp. of children)”), itself an old term of endearment for children (1660s); the sense “plump” dates to the 1500s, and may be related to bunt (“belly of a sail”). Possibly related to butt (“(both noun and verb sense: buttocks; strike with head)”) or to bunny (“rabbit”). Compare with the nursery rhyme Bye, baby Bunting (1731), either of same origin or influenced this sense.
noun buntings
- A warm, often hooded infant garment, as outerwear or sleepwear, similar to a sleeper or sleepsack; especially as baby bunting or bunting bag.
bunting⁴
- /ˈbʌntɪŋ/ UK, US
Rhymes with -ʌntɪŋ
verb
- present participle and gerund of bunt
noun buntings
- A pushing action.
- A strong timber; a stout prop.
- An old boys' game, played with sticks and a small piece of wood.
Bunting⁵
Where it comes from
From bunting, a nickname for someone who resembled the songbird.
proper noun Buntings
- A surname transferred from the nickname.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: butt, stinking smut, tilletia caries, tilletia foetida, lazuli, lapland, cirl, longspur, lark, sparrow, mccown, bruant, buntine, banderole, trimmings, band
Translations
Every language
noun strips of material hung as decoration
| Français | banderole |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | Verzierung aus Flaggen- und Wimpelketten, Fahnen- und Bannerdekoration |
| Italiano | festone |
noun material from which flags are made
| Deutsch | Flaggentuch |
|---|---|
| Русский | флагду́к flagdúk |
noun flags as a group
| Italiano | bandierine |
|---|
Talk about this word "bunting." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/bunting. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. bunting. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/bunting "bunting." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/bunting.Cite this
@misc{bunting_2026,
title = {bunting},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/bunting},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
