canary

canary — noun

1. a brightly coloured bird from the finch family, commonly kept indoors in a cage

1.nounA2
Definition

a brightly coloured bird from the finch family, commonly kept indoors in a cage and valued for its musical song

Example

The Watanabe family keeps a canary in a cage by the kitchen window.

countable noun with 'a/an'

My grandfather taught his canary to sing along with the radio every morning.

Common collocations
  • keep a canary
  • sing like a canary
  • canary cage
  • pet canary
  • canary breeder
Synonyms
  • finch

    a broader family of small seed-eating birds; all canaries are finches, but not all finches are canaries

  • songbird

    any bird that produces musical sounds; a more general term than canary

Usage Note

The bird's original habitat is the Canary Islands, but today most pet canaries are bred in captivity. The colour most people associate with canaries (bright yellow) is actually a domestic mutation — wild canaries are usually greenish-brown.

Common Mistakes

A canary is a type of parrot.
A canary is a type of small finch, not a parrot.
Canaries belong to the finch family, not the parrot family.

2. a shade of bright, warm yellow, similar to the colour of a domestic canary bird'

2.nounB1
Definition

a shade of bright, warm yellow, similar to the colour of a domestic canary bird's feathers

Example

Priya painted her kitchen walls a cheerful shade of canary.

uncountable use as a colour name

The bride's bouquet featured roses in soft pink and canary yellow.

compound colour: canary yellow

Common collocations
  • canary yellow
  • pale canary
  • bright canary
  • shade of canary
Synonyms
  • yellow

    the basic colour category; canary is a specific bright shade of yellow

  • lemon

    a slightly paler, more greenish-yellow shade

  • golden

    a deeper, warmer yellow with brown undertones

  • saffron

    a rich orange-yellow, darker and more intense than canary

Grammar Patterns

used as a colour name

Usage Note

When used as a colour name, 'canary' is normally an uncountable noun ('a shade of canary'), but it can be used with a determiner in informal contexts ('a loud canary'). It also appears in the compound adjective 'canary yellow'.

Common Mistakes

The walls were painted in a canary colour.' (vague).
The walls were painted canary yellow.
Use the compound form 'canary yellow' for precise colour description.
Idioms

canary in a coal mine

idiom

a person, thing, or situation that serves as an early warning of danger or problems that are about to affect a larger group

The sudden drop in the river's fish population was a canary in a coal mine for the region's water quality.

Rising costs in the housing market are often a canary in a coal mine for the broader economy.

a canary in a/the coal mine

idiom

An early sign that warns people about a possible danger or problem.

The sudden drop in sales was a canary in the coal mine for the company.

Environmentalists see the dying coral reefs as a canary in a coal mine.

like the cat that got/ate/swallowed the canary

idiom

Looking very satisfied or proud because of something you have done or achieved.

After winning the award, she smiled like the cat that ate the canary.

He had that look like the cat that swallowed the canary after fixing the problem.

canary — adjective

Word family

  • canary yellow
    nounB1
  • canary-coloured
    adjectiveC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/2

Canary, lemon, golden, and saffron all describe shades of yellow, but they differ in hue and intensity. Canary is a warm, bright yellow with no green or brown undertones — the purest vivid yellow, like the bird's feathers. Lemon is slightly paler and cooler, with a faint greenish tint. Golden is deeper and warmer, carrying brown or amber tones that make it feel richer and less bright. Saffron is the most intense of the four, leaning toward orange-yellow with a warm, spicy richness. In practice: a taxi might be painted canary yellow to stand out, a child's toy might be lemon yellow for a softer look, jewellery is described as golden, and curry or silk fabrics are often called saffron.

canary ↗lemon ↗golden ↗saffron

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

Etymology

LatinSpanishEnglish

The word canary comes from the Canary Islands, a group of islands off the coast of northwest Africa. The bird was named after the islands, and the islands' name comes from the Latin word 'canis' meaning 'dog' — the Romans called them 'Canariae Insulae' ('Islands of the Dogs') because of the large dogs found there. So, ironically, a canary is named after dogs. The bright yellow colour meaning developed later, based on the most common colour of the domestic pet bird. The idiomatic phrase 'canary in a coal mine' refers to the historical practice of coal miners carrying caged canaries into mines — the birds would die from toxic gases before the levels became dangerous to humans, giving the miners an early warning.