Fugle

Fugle is a Danish word meaning birds. In Danish, the singular form is fugl, and fugle serves as the plural. The term is common in everyday language as well as in ornithology, wildlife reports, and field guides. It appears in compound terms such as fuglebestand (bird population), fugleart or fuglearter (bird species), and fugleliv (bird life).

Etymology and linguistic context. Fugle derives from the Danish word for bird and is part of a family of related Germanic terms for birds. It is cognate with similar roots in other Scandinavian languages, where the exact word for “bird” differs (for example, Norwegian and Swedish have different standard forms). The Danish form fugle is predominantly used in Denmark and in Danish-language texts.

Usage and scope. In Danish, fugle covers birds in a broad sense, from discussing wild avifauna to naming species in field observations. While understood by Danish speakers, the form fugle is not generally used as a standalone term in Norwegian or Swedish, where the native words for bird and their plurals differ. In multilingual contexts, translators may render fugle as “birds” in Danish passages.

Other uses. Fugle also exists as a surname of Danish origin. As a proper noun, it can appear in personal names or labels but is otherwise primarily a common noun within Danish language usage. There is no widely recognized definition of fugle beyond its linguistic role as a plural noun for birds in Danish.