owl

See also: OWL

English
A northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina)

Etymology

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

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. An owl pigeon. [from 18th c.]
  4. (politics, uncommon) A politician with moderate views that are neither hawkish nor dovish.
  5. Any of various nymphalid butterflies, especially in the genus Caligo, having large eyespots on the wings.

Derived terms

Translations
owl pigeon — see owl pigeon

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) “*vъpiti”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 4), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 532
  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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