/rob"in/ , n.
1. any of several small Old World birds having a red or reddish breast, esp. Erithacus rubecula, of Europe.
2. a large American thrush, Turdus migratorius, having a chestnut-red breast and abdomen.
3. any of several similar thrushes of the New World tropics, not necessarily having reddish underparts, as T. grayi (clay-colored robin) , of Mexico and Central America. Also called robin redbreast (for defs. 1, 2).
[ 1540-50; short for ROBIN REDBREAST ]