Throstle

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A brown European songbird with spotted breast that sings loudly from treetops ; an early machine that twisted fibres such as silk into continuous thread
2. The speckled thrush of Europe known for its melodious song ; a spinning frame used in older textile mills to twist yarn into thread
3. A mottled songbird native to Europe, celebrated for its clear repeated calls ; a twisting apparatus once used to spin silk or cotton into strong yarn

Etymology: Throstle is an old English name for the song thrush, and it survives in the textile world as the name of an early spinning machine. The bird name comes from Old English "þrostle," which goes back to a Proto-West Germanic form, ""þrostlā." Scholars think this may have been altered from, or formed as a diminutive of, a Germanic root ""þurstaz" that also gave rise to the word for thrush across related languages, all ultimately tracing to a Proto-Indo-European base. The more surprising twist is what happened to the word when it crossed into industry. The throstle, as a spinning frame, was named for the bird because its humming, whirring sound resembled the thrush's song. Mill workers in the northern English textile districts used the name for the machine, and it remained in use there long after the bird name had faded from everyday speech.

Synonyms: thrush, songbird