"fink" meaning in English

See fink in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /fɪŋk/ Audio: En-au-fink.ogg [Australia] Forms: finks [plural]
Rhymes: -ɪŋk Etymology: Unknown; first attested in 1894. A connection to Yiddish as some propose is unlikely. Suggested origins include: * German Fink (“finch; frivolous or dissolute person; informer”) as finches are notoriously chatty birds in groups. If so, then Doublet of finch. * Partly from the German theory, a fanciful association by students with the freedom of wild birds as opposed to caged ones. * The slang name pink for Pinkerton agents and their use as strikebreakers in the 1892 Homestead strike. If the term is from the corporate name, then it is of Scots origin, Pinkerton being from a place near Dunbar, which is from an unrecognized first element (possibly ultimately pre-Celtic substrate) and Old English tun (“enclosure, homestead, etc.”). Etymology templates: {{unk|en}} Unknown, {{der|en|de|Fink||finch; frivolous or dissolute person; informer}} German Fink (“finch; frivolous or dissolute person; informer”), {{doublet|en|finch}} Doublet of finch, {{m|en|pink}} pink, {{der|en|sco|-}} Scots, {{der|en|qfa-sub}} substrate, {{der|en|ang|tun||enclosure, homestead, etc.}} Old English tun (“enclosure, homestead, etc.”) Head templates: {{en-noun}} fink (plural finks)
  1. (chiefly US, slang) A contemptible person. Tags: US, slang Categories (lifeform): Weaverbirds
    Sense id: en-fink-en-noun-ojqcM~SG Disambiguation of Weaverbirds: 28 16 20 25 5 6 Categories (other): American English, English entries with incorrect language header, English entries with topic categories using raw markup Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 43 15 42 Disambiguation of English entries with topic categories using raw markup: 28 15 29 20 6 2
  2. (chiefly US, slang) An informer. Tags: US, slang Categories (topical): People Categories (lifeform): Weaverbirds Synonyms (informer): informant Translations (informer): informátor [masculine] (Czech), informant [masculine] (Czech), udavač [masculine] (Czech), informante [feminine, masculine] (Portuguese), delator [masculine] (Portuguese), предатель (predatelʹ) (Russian), стукач (stukač) [masculine] (Russian), наушник (naušnik) (Russian), доносчик (donosčik) (Russian), осведомитель (osvedomitelʹ) (Russian), фискал (fiskal) (Russian)
    Sense id: en-fink-en-noun-mZRVf2Sz Disambiguation of People: 8 41 4 5 30 13 Disambiguation of Weaverbirds: 28 16 20 25 5 6 Categories (other): American English, English entries with incorrect language header, English entries with topic categories using raw markup Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 43 15 42 Disambiguation of English entries with topic categories using raw markup: 28 15 29 20 6 2 Disambiguation of 'informer': 10 89 1 Disambiguation of 'informer': 10 89 1
  3. (chiefly US, slang) A strikebreaker. Tags: US, slang Categories (lifeform): Weaverbirds Translations (strikebreaker): стачкоизменник (stačkoizmennik) [masculine] (Bulgarian), stávkokaz [masculine] (Czech), crumiro [masculine] (Italian), fura-greve [feminine, masculine] (Portuguese)
    Sense id: en-fink-en-noun-WDCNDkHG Disambiguation of Weaverbirds: 28 16 20 25 5 6 Categories (other): American English, English entries with incorrect language header, English entries with topic categories using raw markup Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 43 15 42 Disambiguation of English entries with topic categories using raw markup: 28 15 29 20 6 2 Disambiguation of 'strikebreaker': 7 1 91
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: ratfink
Etymology number: 1

Noun

IPA: /fɪŋk/ Audio: En-au-fink.ogg [Australia] Forms: finks [plural]
Rhymes: -ɪŋk Etymology: From Afrikaans vink. Etymology templates: {{bor|en|af|vink}} Afrikaans vink Head templates: {{en-noun}} fink (plural finks)
  1. (South Africa) Any of several birds in the family Ploceidae native to southern Africa. Tags: South-Africa Categories (lifeform): Weaverbirds Derived forms: kaffir fink
    Sense id: en-fink-en-noun-zyNFkmhK Disambiguation of Weaverbirds: 28 16 20 25 5 6 Categories (other): South African English, English entries with topic categories using raw markup Disambiguation of English entries with topic categories using raw markup: 28 15 29 20 6 2
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 3

Verb

IPA: /fɪŋk/ Audio: En-au-fink.ogg [Australia] Forms: finks [present, singular, third-person], finking [participle, present], finked [participle, past], finked [past]
Rhymes: -ɪŋk Etymology: Unknown; first attested in 1894. A connection to Yiddish as some propose is unlikely. Suggested origins include: * German Fink (“finch; frivolous or dissolute person; informer”) as finches are notoriously chatty birds in groups. If so, then Doublet of finch. * Partly from the German theory, a fanciful association by students with the freedom of wild birds as opposed to caged ones. * The slang name pink for Pinkerton agents and their use as strikebreakers in the 1892 Homestead strike. If the term is from the corporate name, then it is of Scots origin, Pinkerton being from a place near Dunbar, which is from an unrecognized first element (possibly ultimately pre-Celtic substrate) and Old English tun (“enclosure, homestead, etc.”). Etymology templates: {{unk|en}} Unknown, {{der|en|de|Fink||finch; frivolous or dissolute person; informer}} German Fink (“finch; frivolous or dissolute person; informer”), {{doublet|en|finch}} Doublet of finch, {{m|en|pink}} pink, {{der|en|sco|-}} Scots, {{der|en|qfa-sub}} substrate, {{der|en|ang|tun||enclosure, homestead, etc.}} Old English tun (“enclosure, homestead, etc.”) Head templates: {{en-verb}} fink (third-person singular simple present finks, present participle finking, simple past and past participle finked)
  1. (chiefly US, slang) To betray a trust; to inform on. Tags: US, slang Synonyms: inform, grass up, snitch Derived forms: fink out Translations (to betray a trust): dedurar (Portuguese), предавать (predavatʹ) (Russian)
    Sense id: en-fink-en-verb-INso~ZC8 Categories (other): American English
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 1

Verb

IPA: /fɪŋk/ Audio: En-au-fink.ogg [Australia] Forms: finks [present, singular, third-person], fought [participle, present], fought [participle, past], fought [past]
Rhymes: -ɪŋk Head templates: {{en-verb||fought|fought}} fink (third-person singular simple present finks, present participle fought, simple past and past participle fought)
  1. (dialectal, th-fronting) Pronunciation spelling of think. Tags: alt-of, dialectal, pronunciation-spelling Alternative form of: think
    Sense id: en-fink-en-verb-9c94gO4g Categories (other): English pronunciation spellings
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 2

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for fink meaning in English (13.7kB)

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "ratfink"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en"
      },
      "expansion": "Unknown",
      "name": "unk"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "de",
        "3": "Fink",
        "4": "",
        "5": "finch; frivolous or dissolute person; informer"
      },
      "expansion": "German Fink (“finch; frivolous or dissolute person; informer”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "finch"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of finch",
      "name": "doublet"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "pink"
      },
      "expansion": "pink",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "sco",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Scots",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "qfa-sub"
      },
      "expansion": "substrate",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "tun",
        "4": "",
        "5": "enclosure, homestead, etc."
      },
      "expansion": "Old English tun (“enclosure, homestead, etc.”)",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Unknown; first attested in 1894. A connection to Yiddish as some propose is unlikely.\nSuggested origins include:\n* German Fink (“finch; frivolous or dissolute person; informer”) as finches are notoriously chatty birds in groups. If so, then Doublet of finch.\n* Partly from the German theory, a fanciful association by students with the freedom of wild birds as opposed to caged ones.\n* The slang name pink for Pinkerton agents and their use as strikebreakers in the 1892 Homestead strike. If the term is from the corporate name, then it is of Scots origin, Pinkerton being from a place near Dunbar, which is from an unrecognized first element (possibly ultimately pre-Celtic substrate) and Old English tun (“enclosure, homestead, etc.”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "finks",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "fink (plural finks)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "43 15 42",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "28 15 29 20 6 2",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "28 16 20 25 5 6",
          "kind": "lifeform",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Weaverbirds",
          "orig": "en:Weaverbirds",
          "parents": [
            "Perching birds",
            "Birds",
            "Vertebrates",
            "Chordates",
            "Animals",
            "Lifeforms",
            "All topics",
            "Life",
            "Fundamental",
            "Nature"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A contemptible person."
      ],
      "id": "en-fink-en-noun-ojqcM~SG",
      "links": [
        [
          "contemptible",
          "contemptible"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chiefly US, slang) A contemptible person."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "slang"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "43 15 42",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "28 15 29 20 6 2",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "8 41 4 5 30 13",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "People",
          "orig": "en:People",
          "parents": [
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "28 16 20 25 5 6",
          "kind": "lifeform",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Weaverbirds",
          "orig": "en:Weaverbirds",
          "parents": [
            "Perching birds",
            "Birds",
            "Vertebrates",
            "Chordates",
            "Animals",
            "Lifeforms",
            "All topics",
            "Life",
            "Fundamental",
            "Nature"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An informer."
      ],
      "id": "en-fink-en-noun-mZRVf2Sz",
      "links": [
        [
          "informer",
          "informer"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chiefly US, slang) An informer."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "10 89 1",
          "sense": "informer",
          "word": "informant"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "slang"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "10 89 1",
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "informer",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "informátor"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "10 89 1",
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "informer",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "informant"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "10 89 1",
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "informer",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "udavač"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "10 89 1",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "informer",
          "tags": [
            "feminine",
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "informante"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "10 89 1",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "informer",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "delator"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "10 89 1",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "predatelʹ",
          "sense": "informer",
          "word": "предатель"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "10 89 1",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "stukač",
          "sense": "informer",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "стукач"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "10 89 1",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "naušnik",
          "sense": "informer",
          "word": "наушник"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "10 89 1",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "donosčik",
          "sense": "informer",
          "word": "доносчик"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "10 89 1",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "osvedomitelʹ",
          "sense": "informer",
          "word": "осведомитель"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "10 89 1",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "fiskal",
          "sense": "informer",
          "word": "фискал"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "43 15 42",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "28 15 29 20 6 2",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "28 16 20 25 5 6",
          "kind": "lifeform",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Weaverbirds",
          "orig": "en:Weaverbirds",
          "parents": [
            "Perching birds",
            "Birds",
            "Vertebrates",
            "Chordates",
            "Animals",
            "Lifeforms",
            "All topics",
            "Life",
            "Fundamental",
            "Nature"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A strikebreaker."
      ],
      "id": "en-fink-en-noun-WDCNDkHG",
      "links": [
        [
          "strikebreaker",
          "strikebreaker"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chiefly US, slang) A strikebreaker."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "slang"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "7 1 91",
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "stačkoizmennik",
          "sense": "strikebreaker",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "стачкоизменник"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "7 1 91",
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "strikebreaker",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "stávkokaz"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "7 1 91",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "strikebreaker",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "crumiro"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "7 1 91",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "strikebreaker",
          "tags": [
            "feminine",
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "fura-greve"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/fɪŋk/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɪŋk"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-fink.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/d3/En-au-fink.ogg/En-au-fink.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/En-au-fink.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Chicago Record",
    "George Ade",
    "Homestead strike",
    "Pinkerton (detective agency)"
  ],
  "word": "fink"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en"
      },
      "expansion": "Unknown",
      "name": "unk"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "de",
        "3": "Fink",
        "4": "",
        "5": "finch; frivolous or dissolute person; informer"
      },
      "expansion": "German Fink (“finch; frivolous or dissolute person; informer”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "finch"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of finch",
      "name": "doublet"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "pink"
      },
      "expansion": "pink",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "sco",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Scots",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "qfa-sub"
      },
      "expansion": "substrate",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "tun",
        "4": "",
        "5": "enclosure, homestead, etc."
      },
      "expansion": "Old English tun (“enclosure, homestead, etc.”)",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Unknown; first attested in 1894. A connection to Yiddish as some propose is unlikely.\nSuggested origins include:\n* German Fink (“finch; frivolous or dissolute person; informer”) as finches are notoriously chatty birds in groups. If so, then Doublet of finch.\n* Partly from the German theory, a fanciful association by students with the freedom of wild birds as opposed to caged ones.\n* The slang name pink for Pinkerton agents and their use as strikebreakers in the 1892 Homestead strike. If the term is from the corporate name, then it is of Scots origin, Pinkerton being from a place near Dunbar, which is from an unrecognized first element (possibly ultimately pre-Celtic substrate) and Old English tun (“enclosure, homestead, etc.”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "finks",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "finking",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "finked",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "finked",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "fink (third-person singular simple present finks, present participle finking, simple past and past participle finked)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "fink out"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1952, Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man, Penguin Books (2014), page 222",
          "text": "I move that we determine through a thorough investigation whether the new worker is a fink or no; and if he is a fink, let us discover who heʼs finking for!",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To betray a trust; to inform on."
      ],
      "id": "en-fink-en-verb-INso~ZC8",
      "links": [
        [
          "inform",
          "inform"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chiefly US, slang) To betray a trust; to inform on."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "inform"
        },
        {
          "word": "grass up"
        },
        {
          "word": "snitch"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "slang"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "to betray a trust",
          "word": "dedurar"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "predavatʹ",
          "sense": "to betray a trust",
          "word": "предавать"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/fɪŋk/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɪŋk"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-fink.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/d3/En-au-fink.ogg/En-au-fink.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/En-au-fink.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Chicago Record",
    "George Ade",
    "Homestead strike",
    "Pinkerton (detective agency)"
  ],
  "word": "fink"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "finks",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "fought",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "fought",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "fought",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "",
        "2": "fought",
        "3": "fought"
      },
      "expansion": "fink (third-person singular simple present finks, present participle fought, simple past and past participle fought)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "think"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English pronunciation spellings",
          "parents": [
            "Pronunciation spellings",
            "Terms by orthographic property",
            "Terms by lexical property"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Pronunciation spelling of think."
      ],
      "id": "en-fink-en-verb-9c94gO4g",
      "links": [
        [
          "th-fronting",
          "th-fronting"
        ],
        [
          "Pronunciation spelling",
          "pronunciation spelling"
        ],
        [
          "think",
          "think#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(dialectal, th-fronting) Pronunciation spelling of think."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "dialectal",
        "pronunciation-spelling"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/fɪŋk/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɪŋk"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-fink.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/d3/En-au-fink.ogg/En-au-fink.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/En-au-fink.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "fink"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 3,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "af",
        "3": "vink"
      },
      "expansion": "Afrikaans vink",
      "name": "bor"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Afrikaans vink.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "finks",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "fink (plural finks)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "South African English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "28 15 29 20 6 2",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "28 16 20 25 5 6",
          "kind": "lifeform",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Weaverbirds",
          "orig": "en:Weaverbirds",
          "parents": [
            "Perching birds",
            "Birds",
            "Vertebrates",
            "Chordates",
            "Animals",
            "Lifeforms",
            "All topics",
            "Life",
            "Fundamental",
            "Nature"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "kaffir fink"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any of several birds in the family Ploceidae native to southern Africa."
      ],
      "id": "en-fink-en-noun-zyNFkmhK",
      "links": [
        [
          "Ploceidae",
          "Ploceidae#Translingual"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(South Africa) Any of several birds in the family Ploceidae native to southern Africa."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "South-Africa"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/fɪŋk/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɪŋk"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-fink.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/d3/En-au-fink.ogg/En-au-fink.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/En-au-fink.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "fink"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English 1-syllable words",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms borrowed from Afrikaans",
    "English terms derived from Afrikaans",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English terms with unknown etymologies",
    "English verbs",
    "Rhymes:English/ɪŋk",
    "Rhymes:English/ɪŋk/1 syllable",
    "en:People",
    "en:Weaverbirds"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "ratfink"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en"
      },
      "expansion": "Unknown",
      "name": "unk"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "de",
        "3": "Fink",
        "4": "",
        "5": "finch; frivolous or dissolute person; informer"
      },
      "expansion": "German Fink (“finch; frivolous or dissolute person; informer”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "finch"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of finch",
      "name": "doublet"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "pink"
      },
      "expansion": "pink",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "sco",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Scots",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "qfa-sub"
      },
      "expansion": "substrate",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "tun",
        "4": "",
        "5": "enclosure, homestead, etc."
      },
      "expansion": "Old English tun (“enclosure, homestead, etc.”)",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Unknown; first attested in 1894. A connection to Yiddish as some propose is unlikely.\nSuggested origins include:\n* German Fink (“finch; frivolous or dissolute person; informer”) as finches are notoriously chatty birds in groups. If so, then Doublet of finch.\n* Partly from the German theory, a fanciful association by students with the freedom of wild birds as opposed to caged ones.\n* The slang name pink for Pinkerton agents and their use as strikebreakers in the 1892 Homestead strike. If the term is from the corporate name, then it is of Scots origin, Pinkerton being from a place near Dunbar, which is from an unrecognized first element (possibly ultimately pre-Celtic substrate) and Old English tun (“enclosure, homestead, etc.”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "finks",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "fink (plural finks)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "English slang"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A contemptible person."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "contemptible",
          "contemptible"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chiefly US, slang) A contemptible person."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "slang"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "English slang"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An informer."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "informer",
          "informer"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chiefly US, slang) An informer."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "slang"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "English slang"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A strikebreaker."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "strikebreaker",
          "strikebreaker"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chiefly US, slang) A strikebreaker."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "slang"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/fɪŋk/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɪŋk"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-fink.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/d3/En-au-fink.ogg/En-au-fink.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/En-au-fink.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "sense": "informer",
      "word": "informant"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "informer",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "informátor"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "informer",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "informant"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "informer",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "udavač"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "informer",
      "tags": [
        "feminine",
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "informante"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "informer",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "delator"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "predatelʹ",
      "sense": "informer",
      "word": "предатель"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "stukač",
      "sense": "informer",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "стукач"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "naušnik",
      "sense": "informer",
      "word": "наушник"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "donosčik",
      "sense": "informer",
      "word": "доносчик"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "osvedomitelʹ",
      "sense": "informer",
      "word": "осведомитель"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "fiskal",
      "sense": "informer",
      "word": "фискал"
    },
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "stačkoizmennik",
      "sense": "strikebreaker",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "стачкоизменник"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "strikebreaker",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "stávkokaz"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "strikebreaker",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "crumiro"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "strikebreaker",
      "tags": [
        "feminine",
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "fura-greve"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Chicago Record",
    "George Ade",
    "Homestead strike",
    "Pinkerton (detective agency)"
  ],
  "word": "fink"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English 1-syllable words",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms borrowed from Afrikaans",
    "English terms derived from Afrikaans",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English terms with unknown etymologies",
    "English verbs",
    "Rhymes:English/ɪŋk",
    "Rhymes:English/ɪŋk/1 syllable",
    "en:People",
    "en:Weaverbirds"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "fink out"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en"
      },
      "expansion": "Unknown",
      "name": "unk"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "de",
        "3": "Fink",
        "4": "",
        "5": "finch; frivolous or dissolute person; informer"
      },
      "expansion": "German Fink (“finch; frivolous or dissolute person; informer”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "finch"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of finch",
      "name": "doublet"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "pink"
      },
      "expansion": "pink",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "sco",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Scots",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "qfa-sub"
      },
      "expansion": "substrate",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "tun",
        "4": "",
        "5": "enclosure, homestead, etc."
      },
      "expansion": "Old English tun (“enclosure, homestead, etc.”)",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Unknown; first attested in 1894. A connection to Yiddish as some propose is unlikely.\nSuggested origins include:\n* German Fink (“finch; frivolous or dissolute person; informer”) as finches are notoriously chatty birds in groups. If so, then Doublet of finch.\n* Partly from the German theory, a fanciful association by students with the freedom of wild birds as opposed to caged ones.\n* The slang name pink for Pinkerton agents and their use as strikebreakers in the 1892 Homestead strike. If the term is from the corporate name, then it is of Scots origin, Pinkerton being from a place near Dunbar, which is from an unrecognized first element (possibly ultimately pre-Celtic substrate) and Old English tun (“enclosure, homestead, etc.”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "finks",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "finking",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "finked",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "finked",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "fink (third-person singular simple present finks, present participle finking, simple past and past participle finked)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "English slang",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1952, Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man, Penguin Books (2014), page 222",
          "text": "I move that we determine through a thorough investigation whether the new worker is a fink or no; and if he is a fink, let us discover who heʼs finking for!",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To betray a trust; to inform on."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "inform",
          "inform"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chiefly US, slang) To betray a trust; to inform on."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "slang"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/fɪŋk/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɪŋk"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-fink.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/d3/En-au-fink.ogg/En-au-fink.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/En-au-fink.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "inform"
    },
    {
      "word": "grass up"
    },
    {
      "word": "snitch"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "to betray a trust",
      "word": "dedurar"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "predavatʹ",
      "sense": "to betray a trust",
      "word": "предавать"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Chicago Record",
    "George Ade",
    "Homestead strike",
    "Pinkerton (detective agency)"
  ],
  "word": "fink"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English 1-syllable words",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms borrowed from Afrikaans",
    "English terms derived from Afrikaans",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English verbs",
    "Rhymes:English/ɪŋk",
    "Rhymes:English/ɪŋk/1 syllable",
    "en:People",
    "en:Weaverbirds"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "finks",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "fought",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "fought",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "fought",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "",
        "2": "fought",
        "3": "fought"
      },
      "expansion": "fink (third-person singular simple present finks, present participle fought, simple past and past participle fought)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "think"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English dialectal terms",
        "English pronunciation spellings"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Pronunciation spelling of think."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "th-fronting",
          "th-fronting"
        ],
        [
          "Pronunciation spelling",
          "pronunciation spelling"
        ],
        [
          "think",
          "think#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(dialectal, th-fronting) Pronunciation spelling of think."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "dialectal",
        "pronunciation-spelling"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/fɪŋk/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɪŋk"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-fink.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/d3/En-au-fink.ogg/En-au-fink.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/En-au-fink.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "fink"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English 1-syllable words",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms borrowed from Afrikaans",
    "English terms derived from Afrikaans",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "Rhymes:English/ɪŋk",
    "Rhymes:English/ɪŋk/1 syllable",
    "en:People",
    "en:Weaverbirds"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "kaffir fink"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_number": 3,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "af",
        "3": "vink"
      },
      "expansion": "Afrikaans vink",
      "name": "bor"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Afrikaans vink.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "finks",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "fink (plural finks)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "South African English"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any of several birds in the family Ploceidae native to southern Africa."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Ploceidae",
          "Ploceidae#Translingual"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(South Africa) Any of several birds in the family Ploceidae native to southern Africa."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "South-Africa"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/fɪŋk/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɪŋk"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-fink.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/d3/En-au-fink.ogg/En-au-fink.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/En-au-fink.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "fink"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-17 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-01 using wiktextract (0b52755 and 5cb0836). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.