Meaning

noun nocturnal bird of prey with hawk-like beak and claws and large head with front-facing eyes

originFrom Middle English howle, oul, oule, owle, owlle, from Old English ūle, from Proto-West Germanic *uwwilā, from Proto-Germanic *uwwalǭ (“owl”), diminutive of *uwwǭ (“eagle-owl”), of imitative origin or a variant of *ūfaz, *ūfǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *up- (“to cry out”). Cognates Cognate with Scots oul (“owl”), Saterland Frisian Ule (“owl”), West Frisian ûle (“owl”), Cimbrian aul (“owl”), Dutch…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0