owl

See also: OWL

English

Wikipedia

A northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina)

A 19th-century watercolour of an oriental bay owl (Phodilus badius), from the William Farquhar Collection of Natural History Drawings, National Museum of Singapore

Etymology

From Middle English owle, from Old English ūle, from Proto-Germanic *uwwalǭ (compare West Frisian ûle, Dutch uil, Danish ugle, German Eule), diminutive of *uwwǭ ‎(“eagle-owl”) (compare German Uhu), of imitative origin or a variant of *ūfaz, *ūfǭ (compare Swedish uv ‎(“horned owl”), Bavarian Auf), from Proto-Indo-European *up- (compare Latvian ũpis ‎(“eagle-owl”), Czech úpět ‎(“to wail, howl”), Avestan [script needed] ‎(ufyeimi, “to call out”) ‘’).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /aʊl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /aʊl/, /ˈaʊəl/

• 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. A person seen as having owl-like characteristics, especially appearing wise or serious, or being nocturnally active. [from 14th c.]
3. The owl pigeon. [from 18th c.]

Derived terms

Terms derived from owl

• as wise as an owl
• barn owl
• eagle owl
• elf owl
• great horned owl
• little owl
• long eared owl
• night owl
• owl bus

• owl-butterfly
• owl-faced monkey
• owlful
• owlglass
• owling
• owlish
• owl jug
• owl-light
• owl-moth

• owl-swallow
• owl train
• owly
• powerful owl
• rufous owl
• screech owl
• sea-owl
• stuffed owl
• tawny owl

Translations

a bird

• Acehnese: jampôk
• Adyghe: кукумау ‎(k°k°māw)
• Ainu: チカㇷ゚ ‎(cikap)
• Albanian: kukuvajkë (sq) f, buf (sq) m
• Amharic: ጉጉት ‎(gugut)
• Arabic: بُومَة f ‎(būma)

  Egyptian Arabic: بومة f ‎(buma)

• Aramaic:

  Syriac: ܒܘܡܐ c ‎(būmā)

• Armenian: բու (hy) ‎(bu)
• Assamese: ফেঁচা ‎(phẽsa)
• Asturian: curuxa f
• Aymara: juku (ay)
• Azeri: bayquş (az)
• Banjarese: kukulai
• Bashkir: ябалаҡ ‎(yabalaq)
• Basque: mozo, hontz (eu), gauhontz, hontza
• Bau Bidayuh: buwo
• Belarusian: сава́ f ‎(savá)
• Bengali: পেঁচা (bn) ‎(peṁca), উলূক ‎(uluk), পেচক ‎(pecôk)
• Borôro: tagogo
• Breton: toud m, kaouenn (br) f
• Bulgarian: кукумя́вка f ‎(kukumjávka)
• Catalan: òliba (ca) f, mussol (ca) m
• Cebuano: ngiwngiw, mingok
• Central Bontoc: koop
• Chamicuro: ma'sheti
• Cherokee: ᎤᎫᎫ ‎(ugugu)
• Cheyenne: vé'kėséhemėstaa'e
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 貓頭鷹, 猫头鹰 ‎(maau¹ tau⁴ jing¹), 鴞, 鸮 ‎(hiu¹), 鴟鴞, 鸱鸮 ‎(ci¹ hiu¹)

  Hakka: 貓頭鳥, 猫头鸟 ‎(meu-theù-tiâu)

  Mandarin: 貓頭鷹 (zh), 猫头鹰 (zh) ‎(māotóuyīng), 鴞 (zh), 鸮 (zh) ‎(xiāo), 角鴟, 角鸱 ‎(jiǎochī), 梟鳥 (zh), 梟鸟 (zh) ‎(xiāoniǎo), 鵂鶹 (zh), 鸺鹠 (zh) ‎(xiūliú), 鴟鵂 (zh), 鸱鸺 (zh) ‎(chīxiū), 夜貓子 (zh), 夜猫子 (zh) ‎(yèmāozi), 鴟鴞 (zh), 鸱鸮 (zh) ‎(chīxiāo)

  Min Dong: 貓魂鳥, 猫魂鸟 ‎(mà-hùng-cēu)

  Min Nan: 暗光鳥 (zh-min-nan), 暗光鸟 (zh-min-nan) ‎(àm-kong-tsiáu), 貓頭鳥 (zh-min-nan), 猫头鸟 ‎(niau-thâu-chiáu), 貓頭鷹 (zh-min-nan), 猫头鹰 ‎(niau-thâu-eng), 暗晏鳥, 暗晏鸟 ‎(àm-òaⁿ-chiáu), 鴣黃, 鸪黄 ‎(ko͘-n̂g, ko͘-ûiⁿ), 鴟鴞 (zh-min-nan), 鸱鸮 ‎(chhi-hiau), 鷦鶹, 鹪鹠 ‎(chiau-liû), 鵂鶹 (zh-min-nan), 鸺鹠 ‎(hiu-liû), 公黃, 公黄 ‎(kong-hûiⁿ), 姑嫂鳥, 姑嫂鸟 ‎(ko͘-só-chiáu), 貓頭姑, 猫头姑 ‎(niau-thâu-ko͘)

• Chuvash: тӑмана ‎(tămana)
• Comanche: mupitsʉ
• Cornish: cowan f
• Crimean Tatar: kökökmiyav, muratquş
• Czech: sova (cs) f
• Dalmatian: civet m
• Danish: ugle (da)
• Dutch: uil (nl) m
• Esperanto: strigo (eo)
• Estonian: öökull, kakk
• Evenki: itiknija
• Faroese: ugla, (rare) ugli m, (rare) úla f
• Fijian: lulu
• Finnish: pöllö (fi)
• French: hibou (fr) m, chouette (fr) f
• Friulian: çus
• Galician: moucho m
• Georgian: ბუ ‎(bu)
• German: Eule (de) f, Uhu (de) m

  Old High German: ūwila f

• Gothic: 𐌿𐌲𐌲𐍅𐌹𐌻𐍉 f ‎(uggwilo)
• Greek: γλαύκα (el) f ‎(gláfka), κουκουβάγια (el) f ‎(koukouvágia)

  Ancient: γλαῦξ f ‎(glaûx)

• Guaraní: ñakurutû, urukure'a
• Haitian Creole: koukou
• Hawaiian: pueo
• Hebrew: ינשוף (he) ‎(yanshuf), תנשמת (he) ‎(tinshemeth), לילית (he) ‎(liylith), אוח ‎(oakh)
• Hiligaynon: búkaw
• Hindi: उल्लू (hi) m ‎(ullū)
• Hopi: hotsko
• Hungarian: bagoly (hu)
• Icelandic: ugla (is) f
• Ido: strigo (io)
• Ilocano: kullaaw, puek
• Indonesian: burung hantu (id)
• Irish: ulchabhán (ga) m, cailleach oíche f
• Italian: gufo (it) m (big), civetta (it) f (small)
• Ivatan: bantuluk
• Japanese: フクロウ ‎(fukurō), 梟 (ja) ‎(ふくろう, fukurō)
• Kannada: ಗೂಬೆ (kn) ‎(gūbe)
• Kazakh: жапалақ ‎(japalaq)
• Khmer: ទីទុយ (km) ‎(tiituy), មៀម (km) ‎(miəm)
• Kimaragang: puwok
• Komi-Permyak: сюзь ‎(sjuzʹ)
• Kongo: dikuti
• Korean: 올빼미 (ko) ‎(olppaemi), 부엉이 (ko) ‎(bueong-i)
• Kurdish: kund (ku), bu (ku), pû (ku), pepûk (ku)
• Ladin: ciuita
• Lao: ເຄົ້າ ‎(khao)
• Latgalian: palāda, (some species) opūgs m
• Latin: ulula f, noctua f, strix (la) f, bubo m
• Latvian: pūce, apogs ‎(some species), ūpis m ‎(eagle-owl)
• Limburgish: uul (li) m
• Lingala: esulúngútu

• Lithuanian: pelėda (lt) f; also apuokas (lt) m (some species)
• Low German: uul f
• Lun Bawang: fuek
• Luxembourgish: Eil (lb) f, Échel (lb) f
• Macedonian: був ‎(buv), ут m ‎(ut), утка f ‎(utka)
• Malagasy: vorombozaka (mg), vorondolo (mg)
• Malay: burung hantu, kokok beluk, burung suangi
• Malayalam: മൂങ്ങ (ml) ‎(mūṅṅa)
• Maltese: kokka f
• Manx: hullad f
• Marathi: घुबड n ‎(ghubaḍ)
• Mari:

  Western Mari: тымана ‎(təmana)

• Maricopa: mmdii
• Mazanderani: کوربی ‎(kurebi), پیت کتله ‎(pitketele)
• Moksha: корож ‎(korož)
• Mongolian: шар шувуу ‎(šar šuvuu), ууль (mn) ‎(uulʹ)
• Montagnais: uhu
• Nanai: oqsarä
• Navajo: néʼéshjaaʼ
• Nepali: लाटोकोसेरो ‎(lāṭokosero)
• Norman: cahouain m
• Northern Sotho: leribiši
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ugle m, f

  Nynorsk: ugle f

• O'odham: cukut
• Occitan: chòta f
• Old English: ūle f
• Old Norse: ugla
• Old Provençal: cavec m
• Oriya: ପେଚା (or) ‎(pēcā)
• Ossetian: уыг ‎(wyg), сидахъ ‎(sidaq)
• Pangasinan: kolayot
• Pashto: کونګ ‎(kong)
• Persian: جغد (fa) ‎(joğd), بوف (fa) ‎(buf)
• Polish: sowa (pl) f
• Portuguese: coruja (pt) f, estrige f
• Quechua: tuku, paqpaka, ch'usiqa, huku
• Romanian: bufniță (ro) f
• Romansch: tschuetta f
• Russian: сова́ (ru) f ‎(sová), фи́лин (ru) m ‎(fílin), сыч (ru) m ‎(syč)
• Rusyn: совы f ‎(sovŷ)
• Sami: skuolfelottit
• Samoan: lulu
• Sanskrit: उलूक (sa) m ‎(ulUka)
• Santali: ᱫᱩᱱᱫᱩ ‎(dundu)
• Sardinian: tirulia, cuccumeu, cuccumiau
• Saterland Frisian: Uule f
• Scots: yuggle
• Scottish Gaelic: cailleach-oidhche f, comhachag f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: сова f, јеја f, јејина f, буљина f

  Roman: sova (sh) f, jeja (sh) f, jejina (sh) f, buljina (sh) f

• Shona: zizi
• Sicilian: cuccu (scn) m (big, Bubo bubo), cucca (scn) f (small, Athene noctua)
• Silesian: uojle f
• Skolt Sami: hõˊppi
• Slovak: sova f, výr m
• Slovene: sova (sl) f
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: sowa f

  Upper Sorbian: sowa f

• Spanish: búho (es) m, lechuza (es) f, tecolote (es) m (Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras), mochuelo (es) m (Spain), autillo m (Spain), cárabo (es) m (Spain), cuco (es) m (Cuba), sijú cotunto m (Cuba), caburé (es) m (Argentina), chuncho (es) m (Argentina, Chile), anteojo (es) m (Peru), tucúquere (es) m (Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile)
• Sundanese: bueuk (su)
• Swahili: bundi (sw)
• Swedish: uggla (sv) c, uv (sv) c
• Tagal Murut: puvok
• Tagalog: kuwago
• Tamil: ஆந்தை (ta) ‎(āntai)
• Taos: kǫ̏wéna
• Telugu: గుడ్లగూబ (te) ‎(guḍlagūba)
• Thai: นกฮูก (th) ‎(nók hôok)
• Tibetan: འུག་པ། ‎('ug pa)
• Turkish: baykuş (tr)
• Ukrainian: сова (uk) f ‎(sova), сич m ‎(syč)
• Urdu: الو m ‎(ullū)
• Uyghur: مۈشۈك ياپىلاق ‎(müshük yapilaq)
• Uzbek: boyqush (uz), boyo'g'li (uz), yapaloqqush (uz)
• Veps: hir'pulo
• Vietnamese: con cú, cú (vi)
• Vilamovian: aojł f
• Volapük: (♂♀) lül (vo), (♂) hilül, (♀) jilül, (♂♀ offspring) lülül, (♂ offspring) hilülül, (♀ offspring) jilülül
• Waray-Waray: bukaw
• Welsh: tylluan (cy) f, gwdihŵ (cy) f
• West Coast Bajau: puok
• West Frisian: ûle
• Wolof: looy mi
• Yakut: мэкчиргэ ‎(mekçirge)
• Yiddish: סאָווע f ‎(sove)
• Yoruba: òwìwí
• Zazaki: kund
• Zealandic: ulen m
• Zhuang: roeggyaeujmeuz
• Zulu: isikhova (zu) class 7/8

See also

• hoo
• hoot
• to-whit, to-whoo
• whoo

Anagrams

• low