birdeen
(bɜːˈdiːn, ˈbɜːdiːn)
[f. bird n. + -een, Ir. -{iacu}n dim. suffix: cf. colleen.]
A young bird; also, a young girl (used as a playful form of address).
| 1895 ‘Fiona Macleod’ Mount. Lovers 47 She was like a birdeen lured by the dancing sunrays. Ibid. 61, I am sure, birdeen. 1916 C. A. Renshaw England's Boys 58, I can hear your sleepy birdeens in their swaying moonlit nest. 1922 I. J. Postgate (title) Robin in khaki: a book of birdeens. |