owl
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owl¹
- /aʊl/
- /aʊəl/
Rhymes with -aʊl, -aʊəl
Where it comes from
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 во́пъл (vópăl, “cry, howl, scream”), въпи́я (văpíja, “to weep, yell”), Czech úpět (“to howl, wail”), 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”).
noun owls
- 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. A group of owls is called a parliament.
-
A person seen as having owl-like characteristics, especially appearing wise or serious, or being nocturnally active.
Opposite: lark
- An owl pigeon.
- 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.
verb owls · owling · owled
- To smuggle contraband goods.
OWL²
noun OWLs
- Initialism of Older Women's League
- Initialism of Web Ontology Language (The order of the letters is discussed at Web Ontology Language § Acronym.)
Owl³
Where it comes from
Named from the Owlerton stadium where they used to play.
noun Owls
- A player or fan of Sheffield Wednesday Football Club.
Translations
Every language
noun bird
| Español | búho, lechuza, tecolote, mochuelo, autillo, cárabo |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 올빼미 olppaemi, 부엉이 bueong'i |
| 日本語 | フクロウ fukurō, 梟 fukurō |
| 中文 | 貓頭鷹 /猫头鹰 māotóuyīng, 夜貓子 /夜猫子 yèmāozi, 鴞 /鸮 xiāo, 角鴟 /角鸱 jiǎochī, 梟鳥 /枭鸟 xiāoniǎo, 鵂鶹 /鸺鹠 xiūliú |
| हिन्दी | उल्लू ullū, पेचक pecak, उलूक ulūk, कुचकुचवा kuckucvā, खुसट khusaṭ, घूक ghūk |
| Kiswahili | bundi |
| Português | coruja, estrige |
| Français | hibou, chouette |
| Deutsch | Eule, Uhu, Eulenvogel |
| Italiano | gufo, civetta |
| Ελληνικά | κουκουβάγια f γλαύκα koukouvágia |
| Română | bufniță |
| Русский | сова́ sová, фи́лин fílin, сыч syč |
| Tiếng Việt | cú |
| العربية | بُومَة būma |
| עברית | ינשוף yanshuf, תנשמת tinshemeth, לילית lilith, אוח oakh |
Talk about this word "owl." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/owl. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. owl. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/owl "owl." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/owl.Cite this
@misc{owl_2026,
title = {owl},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/owl},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
