loon

See also: Loon and lo-on

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈluːn/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːn

Etymology 1

From Middle English louen, lowen (“rascal; rogue”), probably of Middle Dutch or Middle Low German origin. Compare Dutch loen (“simpleton”). Or, related to sense 2, due to the bird's loud cry. Folk etymology associates it slang-wise with lunatic, though the latter may have influenced it; see loony.

Noun

loon (plural loons)

1. An idler, a lout.
2. (chiefly Scotland, Ulster) A boy, a lad.
3. (chiefly Scotland) A harlot; mistress.
4. (chiefly Scotland) A simpleton.
5. (slang) A crazy or deranged person; a lunatic.
   • 1971, Richard Carpenter, Catweazle and the Magic Zodiac, Harmondsworth: Puffin Books, page 67:

     An electric fire came next, followed by an umbrella and then a colander. "This bowl will carry no water," he muttered. "Some loon hath pierced it with holes."

6. (Ireland, historical) An English soldier of an expeditionary army in Ireland.

Synonyms

• (crazy person): lunatic, psycho, wacko

Translations

idler

• Finnish: lusmu (fi)
• German: Traumtänzer (de) m, Faulenzer (de) m

a crazy person

• Dutch: gek (nl), getikte (nl) m
• Finnish: sekopää (fi), hullu (fi), seko (fi)
• French: fou (fr) m
• Greek: παλαβός (el) m (palavós)
• Indonesian: gila (id)
• Italian: matto (it), scemo (it), stolto (it), fannullone (it)
• Macedonian: бу́дала f (búdala), лу́дак m (lúdak)
• Portuguese: doido (pt) m, louco (pt) m, maluco (pt) m

See also

• looney, loony, loonie

Etymology 2

Common loon with chick

Of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse lómr (“loon”), ultimately imitative of the bird's cry, particularly when it's in danger. Distantly related to lament, probably sharing Proto-Indo-European *leh₂- (expressive root).

Noun

loon (plural loons)

1. (US, Canada) Any of various birds, of the order Gaviiformes, of North America and Europe that dive for fish and have a short tail, webbed feet and a yodeling cry.
   • 1634, William Wood, “Of the Birds and Fowles both of Land and Water”, in New Englands Prospect. A True, Lively, and Experimentall Description of that Part of America, Commonly Called New England; […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, for Iohn Bellamie, […], →OCLC, 1st part, page 31:

     The Loone is an ill ſhap'd thing like a Cormorant; but that he can neyther goe nor flye; he maketh a noiſe ſometimes like a Sovvgelders horne.

   • 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, H. L. Brækstad, transl., Folk and Fairy Tales, page 286:

     [O]h, yes! the loon does shriek dreadfully - particularly when there's fine rain […]

Synonyms

• (bird of order Gaviiformes): diver

Derived terms

• black-throated loon (Gavia arctica)
• great northern loon, common loon (Gavia immer)
• Pacific loon (Gavia pacifica)
• red-throated loon (Gavia stellata)
• yellow-billed loon (Gavia adamsii)
• loonie

Translations

bird of order Gaviiformes

• Azerbaijani: qaqara
• Basque: pulunpari
• Bulgarian: гмурец (bg) m (gmurec)
• Catalan: calàbria f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 潜鸟 (zh)

• Cree: ᒪᑿ (makwa)

  Plains Cree: mâhkwa

• Czech: potáplice (cs) f
• Danish: lom c
• Dutch: duiker (nl) m, zeeduiker (nl) m
• Esperanto: granda kolimbo m
• Faroese: lómur m
• Finnish: kuikka (fi)
• French: plongeon (fr) m, huard (fr)
• Galician: aro (gl) m, mobella f, papoia f
• German: Seetaucher (de) m
• Hungarian: búvármadár (hu)
• Indonesian: loon
• Irish: lóma m, foitheach m
• Italian: gavia, strolaga (it), svasso (it), tuffetto (it)
• Japanese: 嘴黒阿比 (hashiguroabi)
• Kalmyk: ахун (ahun)
• Korean: 아비 (ko) (abi)
• Kumyk: гьанкъут (hanqut)
• Lithuanian: naras (lt) m
• Macedonian: ну́ркач m (núrkač)
• Mi'kmaq: gwimu anim
• Miami: maankwa
• Navajo: naalʼeełídaakį́
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: lom (no) m

• Ojibwe: maang
• Old English: sċealfor f
• Old Norse: lómr m
• Polish: nur (pl) m
• Portuguese: mobelha (pt) f, mergulhão m
• Potawatomi: mang
• Romanian: cufundar (ro) m, bodârlău (ro) m, corcodel (ro) m
• Russian: гага́ра (ru) f (gagára)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: гњу́рац m, плијенор m

  Latin: gnjúrac (sh) m, plijenor (sh) m

• Slovak: potáplica f
• Spanish: colimbo m
• Swedish: lom (sv) c
• Turkish: dalgıç (tr), dalgıçkuşu (tr)
• Ukrainian: гагара f (hahara)
• Welsh: trochydd m

References

• Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967

Anagrams

• nolo

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch loon, from Middle Dutch loon, from Old Dutch lōn.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

loon (plural lone, diminutive loontjie)

1. wage

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /loːn/

• audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: loon
• Rhymes: -oːn
• Homophone: Loon

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch loon, from Old Dutch lōn, from Proto-West Germanic *laun.

Noun

loon n (plural lonen, diminutive loontje n)

1. wage, pay, reward

Synonyms

• salaris

Derived terms

• arbeidsloon
• belonen
• hongerloon
• leefloon
• loondienst
• loonheffing
• loonkosten
• loonlijst
• loonslaaf
• loonstrook
• loonwerk
• loonzakje
• minimumloon
• verlonen

Descendants

• Afrikaans: loon
• Negerhollands: loon

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

loon

1. first-person singular present indicative of lonen
2. imperative of lonen

Etymology 3

Noun

Plural of loo (“clearing”)

Ingrian

Postposition

loon

1. Alternative spelling of loonna

References

• Ruben E. Nirvi (1971) Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 276
• Olga I. Konkova; Nikita A. Dyachkov (2014) Inkeroin Keel: Пособие по Ижорскому Языку‎^[1], →ISBN, page 14

Middle Dutch

Etymology 1

From Old Dutch *lōn, from Old Dutch *lōn, from Proto-West Germanic *laun.

Noun

lôon m or n

1. wage, payment for services or work
2. reward
3. value

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Derived terms

• lônen

Descendants

• Dutch: loon
• Limburgish: loean

Etymology 2

Dative plural of lô.

Noun

lôon ?

1. Borgloon (a city in modern Belgium)
2. Loon (a county)

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

• Dutch: Loon, (compounded) Borgloon

Further reading

• “loon (I)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• “loon (II)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929), “loon”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN

Oromo

Etymology

From Proto-Cushitic, from Proto-Afroasiatic. Cognates include Hadiyya laro, Saho laa, Afar láa, Somali lo', Boon loy, Burji láli, Gedeo lalo, Awngi əllwa, Blin ləwi, Xamtanga ləwa, Iraqw slee, Kw'adza hleko and Maay hliŋé..

Noun

loon

1. cattle

References

• Oromo Dictionary by Takilee Qinaaxxii

Scots

Etymology

Uncertain, but compare English loon.

Noun

loon (plural loons)

1. (Doric) boy, young man