Refine this word faster
Owl
Definitions
- 1 Any of various birds of prey of the order Strigiformes, families Strigidae and Tytonidae, that are primarily nocturnal and have forward-looking, binocular vision, limited eye movement, and good hearing.
"A group of owls is called a parliament."
- 2 Initialism of Older Women's League. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 3 A player or fan of Sheffield Wednesday Football Club. slang
- 4 nocturnal bird of prey with hawk-like beak and claws and large head with front-facing eyes wordnet
- 5 A person seen as having owl-like characteristics, especially appearing wise or serious, or being nocturnally active. broadly
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 Initialism of Web Ontology Language (The order of the letters is discussed at Web Ontology Language § Acronym.) abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 7 An owl pigeon.
- 8 A politician with moderate views that are neither hawkish nor dovish. uncommon
- 9 Any of various nymphalid butterflies, especially in the genus Caligo, having large eyespots on the wings.
- 1 To smuggle contraband goods. archaic, intransitive
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).
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).
Named from the Owlerton stadium where they used to play.
See also for "owl"
Next best steps
Mini challenge
Want a quick game? Try Word Finder.