# pigeon
## English
### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /ˈpɪ.d͡ʒɪn/
* (US) enPR: pĭjʹən, IPA: /ˈpɪ.d͡ʒən/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɪdʒən, -ɪdʒɪn
* Homophone: pidgin

### Etymology 1

Inherited from Middle English pygeoun, borrowed from Old French pyjon, inherited from Late Latin pīpiōnem (“chirping bird”), derived from Latin pīpiāre (“chirp”), of imitative origin.

#### Alternative forms

* pidgeon (chiefly archaic)

#### Noun

pigeon (countable and uncountable, plural pigeons)
* One of several birds of the family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes, which consists of more than 300 species.
    Synonyms: columbid, culver, dove
* (uncountable) The meat from this bird.
* (Canada, US, informal) A person who is a target or victim of a confidence game.
    Synonyms: dupe, fish, sucker; see also Thesaurus:dupe
* (countable, politics) A pacifist, appeaser, an isolationist, a dove.
* A person hired to transport film footage out of a region where transport options are limited.
** 1989, Whitman Bassow, The Moscow Correspondents, page 214:Kalb rushed to the airport and found a "pigeon" to take out the film: an American woman headed for London.
** 2021, Hilary Brown, War Tourist: Memoirs of a Foreign Correspondent:At this point, all the commercial airports in Pakistan were closed. The only way to get film out was over land. John promptly hired me to be what was then known in the business as a "Pigeon," and installed me in a comfortable room in his hotel. […] I would then hand-carry his film out of the country, via Peshawar, the Khyber Pass, through the Kabul Gorge, and up to Kabul, Afghanistan, where I would meet a BBC courier and transfer the film bag.
* (Australia, military slang) A weak or useless person.

##### Derived terms

* baby pigeon
* blue pigeon flyer
* Bresse pigeon
* carrier-pigeon
* clay pigeon
* cock pigeon
* cut the pigeon wing
* domestic pigeon (Columba livia domestica or (Columba livia f. domestica)
* female pigeon
* fly the blue pigeon
* future pigeon
* hen pigeon
* jealous as a Barbary pigeon
* male pigeon
* messenger pigeon
* moon pigeon
* owl pigeon
* peak-crested pigeon
* pigeon band
* pigeon banding
* pigeon-blood
* pigeon blue
* pigeon breast, pigeon-breasted
* pigeon breed
* pigeon breeder
* pigeon breeding
* pigeon bug
* pigeon-chested, pigeon chest
* pigeon clock
* pigeon coop
* pigeon cot
* pigeon cote
* pigeon crop
* pigeon defence, pigeon defense
* pigeon dirt
* pigeon disease
* pigeon drop
* pigeon dropper
* pigeon dropping, pigeon droppings
* pigeon egg
* pigeon English (archaic)
* pigeon fancier, pigeon-fancier
* pigeon fancy
* pigeon fancying
* pigeon feather
* pigeon feed
* pigeon feeder
* pigeon feeding
* pigeon flute
* pigeon fly (Pseudolynchia canariensis)
* pigeon-hearted
* pigeonhole, pigeon-hole, pigeon hole
* pigeonholing, pigeon-holing
* pigeon house
* pigeon hunt
* pigeon hunter
* pigeon hunting
* pigeon journal
* pigeon keeper
* pigeon keeping
* pigeon-livered
* pigeon loft
* pigeon louse fly (Pseudolynchia canariensis)
* pigeon lung
* pigeon magazine
* pigeon milk
* pigeon pair
* pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan)
* pigeon pie, pigeon-pie
* pigeon plumage
* pigeon pose
* pigeon post
* pigeon racer
* pigeon racing
* pigeon ring
* pigeon shoot
* pigeon's milk
* pigeon squab
* pigeon toe. pigeon-toed
* pigeon tremex (Tremex columba)
* pigeon whistle
* pigeon wing
* pigeon young
* put the cat among the pigeons
* stool pigeon
* street pigeon
* topknot pigeon
* utility pigeon
* war pigeon
* wild pigeon
* young pigeon
* Afep pigeon (Columba unicincta)
* African green pigeon (Treron calvus)
* African olive pigeon (Columba arquatrix)
* American pigeon (Patagioenas spp.)
* Australian pied imperial pigeon (Ducula spilorrhoa)
* band-tailed pigeon (Patagioenas fasciata)
* bare-eyed mountain pigeon (Gymnophaps albertisii)
* bare-eyed pigeon (Patagioenas corensis)
* Bismarck imperial pigeon (Ducula melanochroa)
* black imperial pigeon (Ducula melanochroa)
* blue pigeon (Alectroenas spp.)
* Bolle's pigeon (Columba bollii)
* bronzewing pigeon (Columbinae spp.)
* brown pigeon (Macropygia phasianella)
* Chatham Island pigeon (Hemiphaga chathamensis)
* Chilean pigeon (Patagioenas araucana)
* common wood pigeon (Columba palumbus)
* Comoros green pigeon (Treron comorensis or Treron australis griveaudi)
* crested pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes)
* crowned pigeon (Goura spp.)
* Delegorgue's pigeon (Columba delegorguei)
* eastern bronze-naped pigeon (Columba delegorguei)
* flock bronzewing pigeon, flock bronzewing (Phaps histrionica)
* flock pigeon (Phaps histrionica)
* fruit pigeon, fruit-pigeon
* green pigeon (Treron spp.)
* ha-ha pigeon (Dacelo novaeguineae)
* hill pigeon (Columba rupestris)
* imperial pigeon (Ducula spp.)
* kelp pigeon (Chionis albus)
* laurel pigeon (Columba junoniae)
* Madagascar green pigeon, Madagascan green pigeon (Treron australis)
* Madeiran wood pigeon †Columba palumbus maderensis
* Micronesian imperial pigeon, Micronesian pigeon (Ducula oceanica)
* Moluccan rufous-bellied fruit pigeon (Ducula basilica)
* New Guinea bronzewing, New Guinea bronzewing pigeon (Henicophaps albifrons)
* New Zealand pigeon (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae)
* Nicobar pigeon (Caloenas nicobarica)
* nutmeg pigeon (Ducula spilorrhoa)
* pale-vented pigeon (Patagioenas cayennensis)
* passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius)
* pheasant pigeon (Otidiphaps nobilis)
* Picazuro pigeon (Patagioenas picazuro)
* pigeon guillemot (Cepphus columba)
* pigeon hawk (Falco columbarius)
* pink pigeon (Columba mayeri), formerly (Nesoenas mayeri)
* plain pigeon (Patagioenas inornata)
* plumbeous pigeon (Patagioenas inornata)
* rock pigeon (Columba livia)
* ruddy pigeon (Patagioenas subvinacea)
* rufous-bellied fruit pigeon (Ducula rufigaster)
* rufous pigeon (Patagioenas cayennensis, Columba rufina)
* sea pigeon (Uria aalge)
* silvery pigeon (Columba argentina)
* snow pigeon (Columba leuconota)
* Somali pigeon (Columba oliviae)
* somber pigeon, sombre pigeon (Cryptophaps poecilorrhoa)
* spinifex pigeon (Geophaps plumifera)
* stock pigeon (Columba oenas)
* structure pigeon (Columba livia)
* Sumatran green pigeon (Treron oxyurus)
* Temminck's fruit pigeon (Ptilinopus porphyreus)
* thick-billed green pigeon (Treron curvirostra)
* tooth-billed pigeon (Didunculus strigirostris)
* Torresian imperial pigeon (Ducula spilorrhoa)
* Torres Strait pigeon (Ducula bicolor)
* Trocaz pigeon (Columba trocaz)
* Victoria crowned pigeon, (Goura victoria)
* white-collared pigeon (Columba albitorques)
* white-crowned pigeon (Patagioenas leucocephala)
* white nutmeg pigeon (Ducula spilorrhoa)
* wild pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius)
* Wompoo pigeon (Ptilinopus magnificus)
* wonga pigeon (Leucosarcia melanoleuca)
* woodpigeon, wood-pigeon, wood pigeon (Columba palumbus or Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae)
* African owl pigeon
* Arabian trumpeter pigeon
* archangel pigeon
* barb pigeon, Barbary pigeon
* Bokhara trumpeter pigeon
* carneau pigeon
* carrier pigeon
* Chinese owl pigeon
* city pigeon
* color pigeon, colour pigeon
* crescent pigeon
* crop pigeon, cropper pigeon
* dovecot pigeon, dovecote pigeon
* Dresden trumpeter pigeon
* English owl pigeon
* English trumpeter pigeon
* fancy pigeon
* fantail pigeon
* feral pigeon
* field pigeon
* fire pigeon
* form pigeon
* frillback pigeon
* gimpel pigeon
* helmet pigeon
* highflyer pigeon
* homer pigeon
* homing pigeon
* ice pigeon
* Indian fantail pigeon
* Jacobin pigeon
* king pigeon
* Komorner tumbler pigeon
* Lahore pigeon
* nun pigeon
* Old English carrier pigeon
* oriental frill pigeon
* pheasant pigeon
* plain-headed pigeon
* pouter pigeon, powter pigeon (Columba livia)
* racing homer pigeon
* racing pigeon
* ringbeater pigeon
* roller pigeon
* runt pigeon
* Saxon field pigeon
* scandaroon pigeon, Scandaroon pigeon
* shell-crested pigeon
* strasser pigeon (Columba livia)
* Thuringian field pigeon (Columba livia)
* trumpeter pigeon (Columba livia)
* tumbler pigeon (Columba livia)
* turbiteen pigeon (Columba livia)
* turbit pigeon (Columba livia)
* wattle pigeon, wattled pigeon (Columba livia)

##### Translations

Acehnese: mirahpati
Afrikaans: duif (af)
Ahom: 𑜀𑜠𑜀𑜦𑜧 (kakē)
Aklanon: saeampati
Albanian: pëllumbi
Amharic: ርግብ (rəgb), እርግብ (ʾərgəb)
Arabic: حَمَامَة f (ḥamāma)
Egyptian Arabic: حمام m (ḥamām) (collective), حمامة f (ḥamāma) (singulative)
Aragonese: palomo m, paloma f
Armenian: աղավնի (hy) (aġavni)
Aromanian: pãrumbu m, purumbu m, culumbu m
Assamese: পাৰ (paro)
Asturian: palombu (ast) m
Atikamekw: omemew
Avar: микки (mikki)
Azerbaijani: göyərçin (az)
Baluchi: کپوت
Bashkir: күгәрсен (kügərsen)
Basque: uso (eu), urzo (eu)
Belarusian: го́луб (be) m (hólub)
Bengali: কবুতর (bn) (kobutor)
Bhojpuri: 𑂣𑂩𑂵𑂫𑂰 (parevā)
Bikol Central: salampati (bcl)
Breton: dube (br)
Brunei Malay: acang, burung acang
Bulgarian: гълъ́б (bg) m (gǎlǎ́b)
Burmese: ခို (my) (hkui)
Carpathian Rusyn: го́луб m (hólub)
Catalan: colom (ca) m
Cebuano: salampati
Chamicuro: pujtuku
Cherokee: ᏬᏱ (woyi)
Chichewa: njiwa
Chinese:
Cantonese: 白鴿 / 白鸽 (baak$^6$ gaap$^{3-2}$)
Dungan: гәзы (gəzɨ), гыбә (gɨbə)
Mandarin: 鴿子 / 鸽子 (zh) (gēzi)
Chukchi: танӈыгатԓе (tanṇygatḷe)
Coptic:
Bohairic: ϭⲣⲟⲙⲡⲓ m or f (crompi)
Sahidic: ϭⲣⲟⲟⲙⲡⲉ m or f (croompe)
Czech: holub (cs) m
Danish: due (da) c
Dhivehi: ކޮތަރު (kotaru)
Dutch: (♂♀) duif (nl) f or m, (♂) doffer (nl) m, (♂) mannetjesduif m, (♀) duivin (nl) f, (♀) vrouwtjesduif f, (diminutive ♂♀) duifje (nl) n
Dzongkha: ཕུག་རོན། (phug ron), ཕུ་ཀྲེ (phu kre)
Egyptian: (mnwt f)
Esperanto: kolombo
Estonian: tuvi (et)
Faroese: dúgva f
Finnish: kyyhky (fi), kyyhkynen (fi)
Franco-Provençal: pinjon
French: pigeon (fr) m
Friulian: colomp, colomb m
Galician: pomba (gl) f
Ge'ez: ርግብ m or f (rəgb)
Georgian: მტრედი (ka) (mṭredi)
German: Taube (de) f, Tauber (de) m (male), Täuber (de) m (male), Tauberich (de) m (male), Täuberich (de) m (male), Täubin (de) f (female), Täubchen (de) n (diminutive), Täublein (de) n (diminutive), Kolumbide m (family Columbidae), Taubenvogel m (order Columbiformes)
Alemannic German: Tuub f
Gothic: 𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌺𐍃 f (ahaks)
Greek: περιστέρι (el) n (peristéri)
Ancient: περιστερά f (peristerá)
Greenlandic: tui
Guaraní: pykasu, jeruti
Gujarati: કબૂતર n (kabūtar), પારેવું n (pārevũ), કપોત n (kapot)
Hausa: tantabara
Hawaiian: nūnū
Hebrew: יוֹנָה (he) f (yoná)
Hindi: कबूतर (hi) m (kabūtar), कपोत (hi) m (kapot)
Hungarian: galamb (hu)
Icelandic: dúfa (is) f
Ido: kolombo (io)
Igbo: ńdò
Indonesian: merpati (id), burung merpati (id), dara (id), burung dara (id)
Interlingua: columba, pipion
Irish: colm, colmán, colúr (ga)
Italian: piccione (it) m, picciona f, colombo (it) m, colomba (it) f
Japanese: 鳩 (ja) (はと, hato)
Javanese: dara (jv)
Kanakanabu: tavaaruru
Kashmiri: کوتُر (kōtur)
Kashubian: gòłąbk m
Khakas: худай хус (xuday xus)
Khmer: ព្រាប (km) (priəp)
Korean: 비둘기 (ko) (bidulgi), 구구 (ko) (gugu)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: کۆتر (ckb) (kotir)
Laki Kurdish: کەمووتەر (kemûter)
Northern Kurdish: kevok (ku), kotir (ku)
Ladin: colomba
Ladino: palomba f, palumba f
Lakota: thiwákiŋyela
Lao: ກາງແກ (lo) (kāng kǣ)
Latgalian: bolūds
Latin: columbus m, columba f, columbulus m (diminutive), columbula f (diminutive)
Latvian: balodis m
Laz: ტოროჯი (ťoroci)
Lezgi: лиф (lif)
Lingala: ebengá class 7/8
Lithuanian: karvelis (lt) m, balandis (lt) m
Livonian: palāndõks
Low German:
German Low German: Duuv (nds) f, Düffer (nds) m, Duffer m
Macedonian: гулаб (mk) m (gulab)
Magahi: 𑂍𑂥𑂳𑂞𑂩 (kabutar), 𑂣𑂩𑂵𑂫𑂰 (parewā)
Malay: merpati (ms)
Malayalam: പ്രാവ് (ml) (prāvŭ)
Maltese: ħamiema f
Manchu: ᡴᡠᠸᡝᠴᡳᡥᡝ (kuwecihe)
Mansaka: sarampati
Manx: calmane m
Maori: kūkū, kererū, kūkupa
Mapudungun: conulaf
Marathi: कबूतर n (kabūtar)
Mari:
Eastern Mari: кӧгӧрчен (kögörčen)
Middle English: pygeoun, douve, culver
Mingrelian: ტორონჯი (ṭoronǯi)
Mongolian: тагтаа (mn) (tagtaa)
Navajo: hasbídí
Nepali: परेवा (ne) (parewā)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: due (no) f or m, hanndue f or m (male), duestegg m (male), hunndue f or m (female)
Nynorsk: due f, dua f (variant form), hanndue f (male), duestegg m (male), hodue f (female)
Occitan: colomb (oc) m
Ojibwe: omiimii
Old Church Slavonic:
Cyrillic: голѫбь m (golǫbĭ)
Glagolitic: ⰳⱁⰾⱘⰱⱐ m (golǫbĭ)
Old English: culfre f, *dūfe f (cf. woman’s attested name: Dūfe, “Dove”)
Old Javanese: dara
Ossetian: бӕлон (bælon)
Ottoman Turkish: گوگرجین (güğercin, güvercin)
Pashto: کوتره f (kawtára)
Persian: کبوتر (fa) (kabutar)
Plautdietsch: Duw f
Polabian: ďölǫb m
Polish: gołąb (pl) m
Portuguese: pombo (pt) m, pomba (pt) f
Punjabi: ਕਬੂਤਰ m (kabūtar)
Quechua: irpa, urpi (qu)
Romani: golumbo m, golumbaika f
Romanian: porumbel (ro) m, porumbă (ro) f
Romansch: columba f
Russian: го́лубь (ru) m (gólubʹ), голу́бка (ru) f (golúbka) (female; also a term of endearment for a woman)
Sami: duvvá (livia), dielkoduvvá (palumbus)
Sango: ndeke (sg)
Sanskrit: कपोत (sa) m (kapota)
Sardinian: piccioni aresti, caombu, palumba, columbu
Scottish Gaelic: calman m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: голуб m, голубица f
Roman: golub (sh) m, golubica (sh) f
Sicilian: palumma (scn) f
Slovak: holub (sk) m
Slovene: golob (sl) m
Somali: xamaam
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: gołub m
Upper Sorbian: hołb m
Spanish: paloma (es) f, palomo m (male), pichón (es) m (offspring, young)
Sranan Tongo: doifi
Swahili: hua (sw), njiwa (sw)
Swedish: duva (sv) c
Sylheti: ꠙꠣꠞꠧ (far), ꠇꠂꠔꠞ (xoitor)
Tabasaran: луф (luf)
Tagalog: kalapati
Tajik: кабӯтар (tg) (kabütar)
Talysh: kafte
Tamil: புறா (ta) (puṟā)
Tarifit: adbir m
Tatar: күгәрчен (tt) (kügärçen)
Telugu: పావురము (te) (pāvuramu)
Tetum: falur
Thai: พิราบ (th) (pí-râap)
Tigre: እርግብ (ʾərgəb)
Tigrinya: ርግቢ (rəgbi)
Tiwi: kurlutuki, kulutuki
Tok Pisin: pisin (tpi)
Tswana: lephoi
Tupinambá: pykasu
Turkish: güvercin (tr)
Turkmen: kepderi, gögerçin
Ukrainian: го́луб m (hólub)
Urdu: کبوتر m (kabutar)
Uyghur: كەپتەر (ug) (kepter)
Uzbek: kaptak
Venetan: cołonbo m, colonbo, pipion m, cortexan m
Vietnamese: bồ câu (vi)
Volapük: pijun (vo)
Welsh: colomen
West Frisian: do (fy)
Yiddish: טויב f (toyb)
Yoruba: ẹyẹle, èrukùkù
Yucatec Maya: mukuy
Zazaki: bewran, boran
Zhuang: roegdoxgap :

#### Verb

pigeon (third-person singular simple present pigeons, present participle pigeoning, simple past and past participle pigeoned)
* (transitive) To deceive with a confidence game.

#### See also

* dove
* pidgin
* piper
* squab
* squeaker

### Etymology 2

From pidgin English, from a Chinese Pidgin English pronunciation of English business during trade in the Far East. See pidgin.

#### Noun

pigeon (countable and uncountable, plural pigeons)
* (archaic, idiomatic, UK, informal) Concern or responsibility.
    It's his/her pigeon.

##### References

* (concern or responsibility): 1873, John Camden Hotten, The Slang Dictionary (described as Anglo-Chinese)

### Further reading

* pigeon on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* “pigeon”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

## French
### Etymology

Inherited from Old French pyjon, from Late Latin pīpiōnem (“chirping bird”), from Latin pīpiāre (“chirp”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /pi.ʒɔ̃/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

pigeon m (plural pigeons, feminine pigeonne)
* pigeon
    Synonyms: colombe, columbidé
* (colloquial) patsy (an easily trickable, naive person)
    Synonym: lampiste

#### Derived terms

* aile de pigeon
* je me suis fait pigeonner
* je me suis laissé pigeonner
* loger avec les pigeons
* loger comme les pigeons
* l’industrie pigeonnière
* pigeon à calotte
* pigeon à capuchon
* pigeon à caroncule
* pigeon à cravate
* pigeon à grosse gorge
* pigeon biset
* pigeon bleu
* pigeon boulant
* pigeon bouvreuil
* pigeon capucin
* pigeon carrier
* pigeon cigogne
* pigeon colombin
* pigeon cravaté
* pigeon culbutant
* pigeon de fantaise
* pigeon de passage
* pigeon de roche
* pigeon de structure
* pigeon de ville
* pigeon des villes
* pigeon domestique
* pigeon domestiqué
* pigeon dragon
* pigeon d’argile
* pigeon femelle
* pigeon grosse gorge
* pigeon mâle
* pigeon messager
* pigeon migrateur
* pigeon paon
* pigeon ramier
* pigeon romain
* pigeon tambour
* pigeon vole
* pigeon voyageur
* pigeonite
* pigeonnage
* pigeonnant
* pigeonne
* pigeonneau
* pigeonnelle
* pigeonner
* pigeonnier
* pigeonnier contraceptif
* pigeonnier militaire
* plumer un pigeon
* soutien-gorge pigeonnant

### See also

* colombiculteur
* colombicultrice
* colombiculture
* colombier
* colombophile
* colombophilie
* tourte
* tourtereau
* tourterelle
* tourtière
* tourtre

### Further reading

* “pigeon”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

### Anagrams

* poigne

## Norman
### Etymology

Inherited from Old French pyjon, from Late Latin pīpiōnem (“chirping bird”), from Latin pīpiāre (“chirp”).

### Noun

pigeon m (plural pigeons)
* (Jersey) pigeon

#### Derived terms

* d'mié-pigeon, p'tit pigeon d'France (“turtledove”)
* pigeon d'colombyi (“stock dove”)
* pigeon d'mé, pigeon d'falaise (“rock dove”)
* pigeon ramyi, pigeon sauvage (“wood pigeon”)