Editing European robin (section)

== Etymology ==
The distinctive orange breast of both sexes contributed to the European robin's original name of "redbreast", ''orange'' as a colour name being unknown in English until the 16th century, by which time the fruit of the same name had been introduced. The Dutch {{lang|nl|roodborstje}}, French {{lang|fr|rouge-gorge}}, Swedish ''rödhake'', German {{lang|de|Rotkehlchen}}, Italian {{lang|it|pettirosso}}, Spanish {{lang|es|petirrojo}} and Portuguese {{lang|pt|pisco-de-peito-ruivo}} all refer to the distinctively coloured front.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Holland, J.|title=Bird Spotting|publisher=Blandford|year=1965|location=London, UK|page=225}}</ref>

In the 15th century, when it became popular to give human names to familiar species, the bird came to be known as ''robin redbreast'', which was eventually shortened to ''robin''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lack|first=D.|title=Robin Redbreast|publisher=Oxford, Clarendon Press|year=1950|location=Oxford|page=44}}</ref> As a [[given name]], Robin is originally a [[diminutive|smaller form]] of the name [[Robert]]. The term ''robin'' is also applied to some birds in other families with red or orange breasts. These include the [[American robin]] (''Turdus migratorius'', a [[Thrush (bird)|thrush]]) and the [[Australasia]]n robins of the family [[Petroicidae]], the relationships of which are unclear.

Other older English names for the bird include ''ruddock'' and ''robinet''. In American literature of the late 19th century, this robin was frequently called the ''English robin''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sylvester|first=Charles H.|title=Journeys Through Bookland|publisher=BiblioBazaar, LLC|year=2006|isbn=978-1-4264-2117-4|page=155}}</ref>