owlet

English

Etymology

From owl +‎ -let. Compare howlet.

Noun

owlet (plural owlets)

1. diminutive of owl
   • 1595, George Peele, The Old Wives’ Tale, The Malone Society Reprints, 1908, lines 51-54,^[1]

     And in faith Sir unlesse your hospitalitie doe releeve us, wee are like to wander with a sorrowfull hey ho, among the owlets, & Hobgoblins of the Forrest […]

   • c. 1605, William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act IV, Scene 1,^[2]

     Adder’s fork and blind-worm’s sting,

     Lizard’s leg and owlet’s wing,

     For a charm of powerful trouble,

     Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

   • 1798, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Fears in Solitude, London: J. Johnson, pp. 4-5,^[3]

     […] and bold with joy,

     Forth from his dark and lonely hiding-place

     (Portentous sight) the owlet, ATHEISM,

     Sailing on obscene wings athwart the noon,

     Drops his blue-fringed lids, and holds them close,

     And, hooting at the glorious sun in heaven,

     Cries out, “where is it?”

2. A young owl; owling.
3. One of a species of small owls, such as Athene noctua.
4. An owlet moth.

Synonyms

• owling, howlet, houlet

Derived terms

• owlet moth (Noctuidae)
• long-whiskered owlet ()

Translations

a young owl

• Dutch: uilskuiken (nl) n
• French: jeune hibou m, (with tufted ears) jeune chouette f
• Georgian: ბუს ბახალა (bus baxala)
• German: Eulenjunges n, junge Eule f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: совёнок (ru) m (sovjónok)
• Slovak: sôvä n
• Swedish: uggleunge (sv) c
• Volapük: (♂♀) lülül, (♂) hilülül, (♀) jilülül

References

• “owlet”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Towle, towel