Espèce de petit oiseau passereau d’Europe, mésange très semblable à la mésange nonnette, mais à calotte noire mate et à bavette plus grande, de la famille des paridés.
Attested from at least the 13th century. Origin is uncertain. One theory suggests shortening from an earlier 小雀目 (kogarame), meaning roughly “small birds that fly in a flock”. Others suggest shortening from 小山潜群, which in turn is from 小(こ) (ko-, “small”) plus 山潜群 (yamakugurimure), an obsolete form of 山雀(やまがら) (yamagara, “varied tit”). Compare also the -gara/kara in 烏帽子雀(エボシガラ) (eboshigara,…