Snowbird

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈsnəʊbɜːd/

Definitions

1. An individual who moves from a frigid location to a milder area in search of better weather during the winter season
2. A person who temporarily relocates to a warmer climate during winter months to escape cold temperatures
3. A person who migrates from cold regions to warmer ones for an extended period during winter to enjoy milder weather conditions

Etymology: "Snowbird" is a plain compound of "snow" and "bird," and the sense that matters here is the one that turned a winter weather word into a retirement lifestyle. Snow, the frozen precipitation, is an ancient Germanic word, and "bird" is an ordinary English noun. Put together, they name a bird that flees the cold, which is the whole logic of the term: just as migratory birds head south when winter arrives, people who leave cold northern climates for warmer places in the colder months are said to migrate in the same way. The metaphor is what gives the word its life. A snowbird is not a bird that lives in snow; the image is of seasonal flight, and the human version is a traveller who keeps a home in the north but spends winters somewhere sunnier. The word is most associated with older people who do this, but the idea of escaping winter is what holds the term together.

Synonyms: migrant, seasonal resident