# owl

> English word · Noun · IPA /aʊ(ə)l/ · frequency rank #8,703

## 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.
2. A person seen as having owl-like characteristics, especially appearing wise or serious, or being nocturnally active.
3. An owl pigeon.
4. A politician with moderate views that are neither hawkish nor dovish.
5. Any of various nymphalid butterflies, especially in the genus Caligo, having large eyespots on the wings.

## 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).

## Easily confused with
- **oz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/owl-vs-oz)
- **ox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/owl-vs-ox)
- **oy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/owl-vs-oy)
- **own** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/owl-vs-own)
- **OWS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/owl-vs-ows)
- **owns** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/owl-vs-owns)
- **owls** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/owl-vs-owls)
- **o** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/o-vs-owl)
- **of** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/of-vs-owl)
- **on** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/on-vs-owl)
- **or** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/or-vs-owl)
- **OH** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oh-vs-owl)
- **OK** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ok-vs-owl)
- **op** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/op-vs-owl)
- **OS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/os-vs-owl)
- **OT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ot-vs-owl)
- **ou** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ou-vs-owl)
- **OG** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/og-vs-owl)
- **oi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oi-vs-owl)
- **ow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ow-vs-owl)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/owl