# loon
## English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /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)
* (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."
** 1971, Marc Bolan (lyrics and music), “Cosmic Dancer”, in Electric Warrior, performed by T. Rex:What's it like to be a loon? / I liken it to a balloon
* (obsolete) An idler, a lout.
** c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii], page 149:The diuell damne thee blacke, thou cream-fac'd Loone: Where got'ſt thou that Gooſe-looke.
* (chiefly Scotland, Ulster) A boy, a lad.
* (chiefly Scotland) A harlot; mistress.
* (chiefly Scotland) A simpleton.
* (Ireland, historical) An English soldier of an expeditionary army in Ireland.
* (traffic engineering) A round area of pavement that protrudes from one side of a road to accommodate turning vehicles with a wide turning circle.

##### Synonyms

* (crazy person): lunatic, psycho, wacko
* (round area of pavement): bulb-out

##### Derived terms

* loons, loon pants

##### See also

* looney, loony, loonie

#### References

* ↑ “loon”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.

### Etymology 2

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)
* (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, translated by H. L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 286:[O]h, yes! the loon does shriek dreadfully - particularly when there's fine rain […]
** 1903, Zane Grey, Betty Zane, New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers, →OCLC:He came again to her and she said: ‘Run swifter than the deer, be more cunning than the beaver, dive deeper than the loon.’
** 1921, Edna St. Vincent Millay, “The Blue-Flag in the Bog”, in Second April‎:And I listened for a voice;— / But my heart was all I heard; / Not a screech-owl, not a loon, / Not a tree-toad said a word.

##### Synonyms

* (bird of order Gaviiformes): diver

##### Derived terms

* Arctic loon
* 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
#### 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)
* wage

## Dutch
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /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)
* wage, pay, reward
    Synonym: salaris

##### Derived terms

* arbeidsloon
* belonen
* hongerloon
* jeugdloon
* leefloon
* loon-prijsspiraal
* 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
* inflection of lonen:
** first-person singular present indicative
** (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
** imperative

### Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Noun

loon
* plural of loo (“clearing”)

## Ingrian
### Postposition

loon
* 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, →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
* wage, payment for services or work
* reward
* 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 ?
* Borgloon (a city in modern Belgium)
* 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
* cattle

### References

* Oromo Dictionary by Takilee Qinaaxxii
* ↑ Appleyard, David (2006) A Comparative Dictionary of Agaw languages (Kuschitische Sprachstudien), volume 24, Köln, Germany: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag, →ISBN, page 49

## Scots
### Etymology

Uncertain, but compare English loon.

### Noun

loon (plural loons)
* (Doric Scots) boy, young man
    Synonyms: (in other dialects) lad, laddie