# owl
## English

* This entry needs quotations to illustrate usage. If you come across any interesting, durably archived quotes then please add them!

### Etymology

From Middle English oule, owle, from Old English ūle, from Proto-West Germanic *uwwilā, from Proto-Germanic *uwwalǭ (compare West Frisian ûle, Dutch uil, Danish and Norwegian ugle, German Eule), diminutive of *uwwǭ (“eagle-owl”) (compare German Uhu), of imitative origin or a variant of *ūfaz, *ūfǭ (compare Old English ūf or hūf, Swedish uv (“horned owl”), Bavarian Auf), from Proto-Indo-European *up- (compare Latvian ũpis (“eagle-owl”), Czech úpět (“to wail, howl”), Avestan 𐬎𐬟𐬌𐬌𐬈𐬌𐬨𐬌 (ufiieimi, “to call out”). A Germanic variant *uwwilǭ was the source of Old High German ūwila (German Eule).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /aʊ(ə)l/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -aʊl, -aʊəl

### Noun

owl (plural owls)
* 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.]
* (by extension) A person seen as having owl-like characteristics, especially appearing wise or serious, or being nocturnally active. [from 14th c.]
    Antonym: lark
* An owl pigeon. [from 18th c.]
* (politics, uncommon) A politician with moderate views that are neither hawkish nor dovish.
* Any of various nymphalid butterflies, especially in the genus Caligo, having large eyespots on the wings.

#### Derived terms

* Acadian owl
* as wise as an owl
* bare-legged owl
* barn owl
* barred owl
* blind as an owl
* boobook owl
* boreal owl
* brown owl
* buffy fish owl
* burrowing owl
* disc owl
* disk owl
* drunk as a boiled owl
* drunk as an owl
* eagle owl, eagle-owl (Bubo bubo etc.)
* elf owl
* Eurasian eagle owl
* Eurasian pygmy owl
* Eurasian scops owl
* fishing owl
* fish owl
* flammulated owl
* gnome owl
* great grey owl
* great horned owl
* hawk owl, hawk-owl
* hoot owl
* hoot owl shift
* hoot owl trail
* horned owl
* ivy owl
* jar-owl
* Lapland owl
* laughing owl
* little owl
* long eared owl, long-eared owl
* monkey-faced owl
* mottled owl
* night owl
* night-owl
* northern hawk owl
* owl bus
* owl-butterfly, owl butterfly (Caligo spp.)
* owler
* owlery
* owlet
* owl-eyed
* owl-faced monkey
* owlful
* Owlglass
* owl hoot
* owl hoot trail
* owling
* owlish
* owlishly
* owlishness
* owl jug
* owlless
* owl light
* owl-light
* owl-like
* owl monkey
* owl moth
* owl-moth
* owl parrot
* owl pigeon
* owl-swallow
* owl train
* owly
* Pel's fishing owl
* powerful owl
* pygmy owl
* rain owl
* red owl
* Richardson's owl
* rufous owl
* scops owl, scops-owl (Otus scops etc)
* screech owl, screech-owl
* sea-owl
* shivering owl
* short-eared owl
* shriek owl
* silver owl
* snowy owl
* Soumagne's owl
* spectral owl
* spotted eagle-owl
* spotted owl
* squinch owl
* striped owl
* stuffed owl
* superb owl
* tawny owl
* Tengmalm's owl
* Ural owl
* western barn owl
* white owl
* wise as an owl
* wood owl

#### See also

* hoot
* to-whit, to-whoo
* whoo
* who
* hoo
* hoohoo

#### References

* ↑ Marlies Philippa et al, eds., Etymologisch Woordenboek van het Nederlands, A-Z, s.v. “uil” (Amsterdam UP, 3 Dec. 2009).
* ↑ Derksen, Rick (2008) “*vъpiti”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 4), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 532
* ↑ Vladimir Orel, A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, s.vv. “*uwwalōn”, “*uwwǭ”, “*ūfaz ~ *ūfǭ” (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 436.

#### Further reading

* owl on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

### Verb

owl (third-person singular simple present owls, present participle owling, simple past and past participle owled)
* (archaic, intransitive) To smuggle contraband goods.

### Anagrams

* 'low, LOW, Low, WoL, low, low%