Wiktionary

owl

See also: OWL and Owl

Translingual

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Etymology

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Abbreviation of English Old Welsh.

Symbol

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owl

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Old Welsh.

See also

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English

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  This entry needs quotations to illustrate usage. If you come across any interesting, durably archived quotes, then please add them!
 
A northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina)

Etymology

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Etymology tree
Proto-Germanic *uwwô
Proto-Germanic *-ulǭ
Proto-Germanic *uwwulǭ
Proto-West Germanic *uwwulā
Old English ūle
Middle English oule
English owl

    From Middle English howle, oul, oule, owle, owlle, from Old English ūle, from Proto-West Germanic *uwwulā, from Proto-Germanic *uwwulǭ (“owl”), diminutive of *uwwǭ (“eagle-owl”), of imitative origin or a variant of *ūfaz, *ūfǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *up- (“to cry out”).

    Cognates

    Cognate with Scots oul (“owl”), Saterland Frisian Ule (“owl”), West Frisian ûle (“owl”), Cimbrian aul (“owl”), Dutch uil (“owl”), German Eule (“owl”), Low German Uul (“owl”), Luxembourgish Eil (“owl”), Vilamovian aojł (“own”), Yiddish אײַל (ayl, “owl”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål ugle (“owl”), Faroese ugla (“owl”), Icelandic uggla, ugla (“owl”), Norwegian Nynorsk ugla, ule (“owl”), Swedish uggla, uv (“owl”); also Bulgarian вопъл (vopăl, “cry, howl, scream”), въпия (văpija, “to weep, yell”), Czech úpět (“to howl, wail”)[1][2], Russian вопи́ть (vopítʹ, “to howl, scream, yell”), вопия́ть (vopijátʹ, “to appeal; to scream, yell; to lament, wail”), вопль (voplʹ, “cry, scream, wail”), Serbo-Croatian ва̀пити, vàpiti (“to cry out; to scream”), Slovene vpíti (“to scream, yell”).

    Pronunciation

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    • IPA(key): /aʊ(ə)l/
    • Audio (US):(file)
    • Rhymes: -aʊl, -aʊəl

    Noun

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    owl (plural owls)

    2. Any of various birds of prey of the order Strigiformes, families Strigidae and Tytonidae, that are primarily nocturnal and have forward-looking, binocular vision, limited eye movement, and good hearing. [from 8th c.]
      • 2019 June 6, “A gaggle, a confusion and a conspiracy - bizarre animal collective group names”, in BBC‎[1]:
        A group of owls is called a parliament.
    3. (by extension) A person seen as having owl-like characteristics, especially appearing wise or serious, or being nocturnally active. [from 14th c.]
      Antonym: lark
    4. An owl pigeon. [from 18th c.]
    5. (politics, uncommon) A politician with moderate views that are neither hawkish nor dovish.
    6. Any of various nymphalid butterflies, especially in the genus Caligo, having large eyespots on the wings.

    Coordinate terms

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    birds

    Derived terms

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    Translations

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    See also

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    References

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    1. ^ Derksen, Rick (2008), “*vъpiti”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 4), Leiden; Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 532
    2. ^ Vladimir Orel, A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, s.vv. “*uwwalōn”, “*uwwǭ”, “*ūfaz ~ *ūfǭ” (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 436.

    Further reading

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    Verb

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      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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