shrike (n.)
"predatory oscine passerine bird notable for its long, toothed bill," 1540s, apparently from a survival of Old English scric "a shrike or thrush," literally "bird with a shrill call," probably echoic of its cry and related to shriek (compare Old Norse skrikja "shrieker, shrike," German schrik "moor hen," Swedish skrika "jay"), which in Middle English also was used of bird cries.
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"to scream; screech; utter a sharp, shrill cry," from pain, fear, grief, also of laughter, a 16c. variant of scrycke, skriken (c. 1200), from Old Norse skrækja "to screech" (see screech), probably of imitative origin. Transitive sense is from 1590s. Related: Shrieked; shrieking. The noun is attested from 1580s, "a sharp, shrill outcry," from the verb.
A shriek is sharper, more sudden, and, when due to fear or pain, indicative of more terror or distress than a scream. Screech emphasizes the disagreeableness of the sharpness or shrillness, and its lack of dignity in a person. It is more distinctly figurative to speak of the shriek of a locomotive than to speak of its scream or screech. [Century Dictionary]
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updated on September 06, 2022
