chouette

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃwɛt/

• audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛt

Etymology 1

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French çuete, diminutive of choë, cauwe, from Vulgar Latin *cawa or from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old Dutch *kāwa ‘jackdaw’ (compare Dutch kauw, English chough), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Germanic *kahwō, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Indo-European *geh₁(i)- ‘sing’.

Noun

chouette f (plural chouettes)

1. owl (specifically, an owl without a crest)

Derived terms

• chouette chevêche
• chouette effraie
• chouette hulotte

See also

• hibou

Etymology 2

Probably from a confusion between Etymology 1, above, and a derivative of choueter, chou.

Adjective

chouette (plural chouettes)

1. (informal) great, cool, swell

   Synonym: sympa

Interjection

chouette

1. (informal) Exclamation when one learns of something pleasing

   Chouette ! On va à la mer cet été ! ― Super! We're going to the sea this summer!

   Des crêpes ? Chouette ! ― Crêpes? Super!

Further reading

• “chouette”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.