thunderbird meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

thunderbird

nounalso spelled Thunderbird

UK /ˈθʌndə.bɜːd/ · US /ˈθʌndɚ.bɝd/

Etymology From thunder + bird.

Human sciences, Mysticism, Mythology, Philosophy, Sciences A mythological bird, often associated with stormy weather, especially in various indigenous North American mythologies.

A man there was, grim his expression, just like a Thunderbird his features were frightening.1999, Andrew George, transl., Gilgamesh, section VII:
The Thunderbird, one of the most powerful symbols of Indigenous American mythology, borrows heavily from eagle features.2021, Peter Cavanagh, “1. Eagles”, in 100 Flying Birds: Photographing the Mechanics of Flight, →ISBN, page 15:

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Candace Thomas, a Tsleil-Waututh artist, provided the design for the crosswalk which now spans the intersection of Dollarton Highway and Sleil-Waututh Road. It depicts a thunderbird embracing both residential school survivors and missing and murdered Indigenous women, according to the news release.2025 September 25, Edzi'u Loverin, “Every Child Matters crosswalk at Tsleil-Waututh Nation one of several to be unveiled in Metro Vancouver”, in CBC News:

The golden whistler, an Australian insectivorous songbird (Pachycephala pectoralis, formerly Pachycephala gutturalis), whose male is conspicuously marked with black and yellow, and has a black crescent on the breast.

Thunderbird

noun

UK /ˈθʌndə(ɹ).bɜː(ɹ)d/

Etymology The railway sense is derived from the 1960s TV series Thunderbirds, about a secretive high-tech rescue organization, ultimately from thunderbird.

Alternative letter-case form of thunderbird.

Rail transport, Railways, Transport UK A locomotive stored at a strategic point on the network so as to be available to quickly rescue a failed train.