cucuvea

Romanian

cucuvea

Alternative forms

• cucumea, cucumeagă, cucuvaie

Etymology

Often considered to be from Greek κουκουβάγια (koukouvágia), but seems linked to a number of foreign cognates, including Albanian kukuvajë, Italian coccoveggia, cuccumeggia, Calabrian cucumau, cuccuvella. Other theories include a Vulgar Latin *cucumella, or an expressive or onomatopoetic creation.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ku.kuˈve̯a/

Noun

cucuvea f (plural cucuvele)

1. little owl (Athene noctua)

Declension

Declension of cucuvea

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(o) cucuvea	cucuveaua	(niște) cucuvele	cucuvelele
genitive/dative	(unei) cucuvele	cucuvelei	(unor) cucuvele	cucuvelelor
vocative	—		—

Synonyms

• pasărea-mortului (regional, in Transylvania, Maramureș and Banat)

Derived terms

• cucuvea pitică

See also

• bufniță
• buhă
• ciuf
• huhurez
• strigă
• strigide
• strigiformă

References

• cucuvea in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)