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See also: OWL
English
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Northern_Spotted_Owl.USFWS.jpg/170px-Northern_Spotted_Owl.USFWS.jpg)
Etymology
[edit]From Middle English oule, owle, from Old English ūle, from Proto-West Germanic *uwwilā, from Proto-Germanic *uwwalǭ (compare West Frisian ûle, Dutch uil, Danish and Norwegian ugle, German Eule), diminutive of *uwwǭ (“eagle-owl”) (compare German Uhu), of imitative origin or a variant of *ūfaz, *ūfǭ (compare Old English ūf or hūf, Swedish uv (“horned owl”), Bavarian Auf),[1] from Proto-Indo-European *up- (compare Latvian ũpis (“eagle-owl”), Czech úpět (“to wail, howl”), Avestan 𐬎𐬟𐬌𐬌𐬈𐬌𐬨𐬌 (ufiieimi, “to call out”).[2][3] A Germanic variant *uwwilǭ was the source of Old High German ūwila (German Eule).
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]owl (plural owls)
- Any of various birds of prey of the order Strigiformes that are primarily nocturnal and have forward-looking, binocular vision, limited eye movement, and good hearing. [from 8th c.]
- (by extension) A person seen as having owl-like characteristics, especially appearing wise or serious, or being nocturnally active. [from 14th c.]
- Antonym: lark
- An owl pigeon. [from 18th c.]
- (politics, uncommon) A politician with moderate views that are neither hawkish nor dovish.
- Any of various nymphalid butterflies, especially in the genus Caligo, having large eyespots on the wings.
Derived terms
[edit]- Acadian owl
- as wise as an owl
- barn owl
- barred owl
- blind as an owl
- boobook owl
- boreal owl
- brown owl
- buffy fish owl
- burrowing owl
- disc owl
- disk owl
- drunk as a boiled owl
- drunk as an owl
- eagle owl, eagle-owl (Bubo bubo etc.)
- elf owl
- Eurasian eagle owl
- Eurasian pygmy owl
- Eurasian scops owl
- fishing owl
- fish owl
- flammulated owl
- gnome owl
- great grey owl
- great horned owl
- hawk owl, hawk-owl
- hoot owl
- hoot owl shift
- hoot owl trail
- horned owl
- ivy owl
- jar-owl
- Lapland owl
- laughing owl
- little owl
- long eared owl, long-eared owl
- monkey-faced owl
- mottled owl
- night owl
- night-owl
- northern hawk owl
- owl bus
- owl-butterfly, owl butterfly (Caligo spp.)
- owler
- owlery
- owlet
- owl-eyed
- owl-faced monkey
- owlful
- Owlglass
- owl hoot
- owl hoot trail
- owling
- owlish
- owlishly
- owlishness
- owl jug
- owlless
- owl-light
- owl light
- owl-like
- owl monkey
- owl moth
- owl-moth
- owl parrot
- owl pigeon
- owl-swallow
- owl train
- owly
- Pel's fishing owl
- powerful owl
- pygmy owl
- rain owl
- red owl
- Richardson's owl
- rufous owl
- scops owl, scops-owl (Otus scops etc)
- screech owl, screech-owl
- sea-owl
- shivering owl
- short-eared owl
- shriek owl
- silver owl
- snowy owl
- Soumagne's owl
- spectral owl
- spotted eagle-owl
- spotted owl
- squinch owl
- striped owl
- stuffed owl
- superb owl
- tawny owl
- Tengmalm's owl
- Ural owl
- western barn owl
- white owl
- wise as an owl
- wood owl
Translations
[edit]bird
|
person with owl-like characteristics
owl pigeon — see owl pigeon
politician with moderate views
type of nymphalid butterfly
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Marlies Philippa et al, eds., Etymologisch Woordenboek van het Nederlands, A-Z, s.v. “uil” (Amsterdam UP, 3 Dec. 2009). [1]
- ^ Derksen, Rick (2008) “*vъpiti”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 4), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 532
- ^ Vladimir Orel, A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, s.vv. “*uwwalōn”, “*uwwǭ”, “*ūfaz ~ *ūfǭ” (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 436.
Further reading
[edit]Verb
[edit]owl (third-person singular simple present owls, present participle owling, simple past and past participle owled)
- (archaic, intransitive) To smuggle contraband goods.
Anagrams
[edit]Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/aʊl
- Rhymes:English/aʊl/1 syllable
- Rhymes:English/aʊəl
- Rhymes:English/aʊəl/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Politics
- English terms with uncommon senses
- English verbs
- English terms with archaic senses
- English intransitive verbs
- en:Columbids
- en:Nymphalid butterflies
- en:Owls