owl

See also: OWL

English
A northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina)

Etymology

From Middle English oule, owle, from Old English ūle, 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
  • IPA(key): /aʊl/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -aʊl

Noun

owl (plural owls)

  1. 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.]
  2. (by extension) A person seen as having owl-like characteristics, especially appearing wise or serious, or being nocturnally active. [from 14th c.]
    Antonym: lark
  3. The owl pigeon. [from 18th c.]
  4. (politics, uncommon) A politician with moderate views that are neither hawkish nor dovish.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

References
  1. Marlies Philippa et al, eds., Etymologisch Woordenboek van het Nederlands, A-Z, s.v. “uil” (Amsterdam UP, 3 Dec. 2009).
  2. Derksen, Rick (2008) Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 4), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 532—535
  3. Vladimir Orel, A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, s.vv. “*uwwalōn”, “*uwwǭ”, “*ūfaz ~ *ūfǭ” (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 436.

Further reading

Verb

owl (third-person singular simple present owls, present participle owling, simple past and past participle owled)

  1. (archaic, intransitive) To smuggle contraband goods.

Anagrams
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