different between owly vs owlet

English

Etymology

owl +? -y

Adjective

owly (comparative owlier, superlative owliest)

1. Resembling or characteristic of an owl.
   • 2010, Tracy Chevalier, Remarkable Creatures, Dutton (2010), ?ISBN, page 48:

     In the picture Miss Elizabeth showed me the croc had little piggy eyes, not huge owly ones.

2. In a bad mood; cranky.
   • 1988, Janette Oke, Winter Is Not Forever, Bethany House Publishers (2010), ?ISBN, page 16:

     I had no right to be owly and disagreeable with Willie.

3. Seeing poorly.
   • 1908, Vernon L. Kellogg, "The Vendetta", in Insect Stories, Henry Holt and Company (1908), page 55:

     Perhaps nice isn't the best word for him, but he certainly was an unusually imposing and fluffy-haired and fierce-looking brute of a tarantula. He had rather an owly way about him, as if he had come out from his hole too early and was dazed and half-blinded by the light.

Synonyms

• (like an owl): owlish, owllike, strigine
• (in a bad mood): crabby, cranky, grumpy, ornery, out of sorts

Derived terms

• owliness
• owly-eyed

References

• T. K. Pratt, Dictionary of Prince Edward Island English, University of Toronto Press (1988), ?ISBN, pages 107-108
• The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia, The Century Co. (1897), Volume 5, page 265

Anagrams

• Lowy, yowl

English

Etymology

From owl +? -et. Compare howlet.

Noun

owlet (plural owlets)

1. Diminutive of owl
   • 1595, George Peele, The Old Wives’ Tale, The Malone Society Reprints, 1908, lines 51-54,^[1]

     And in faith Sir unlesse your hospitalitie doe releeve us, wee are like to wander with a sorrowfull hey ho, among the owlets, & Hobgoblins of the Forrest […]

   • c. 1605, William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act IV, Scene 1,^[2]

     Adder’s fork and blind-worm’s sting,

     Lizard’s leg and owlet’s wing,

     For a charm of powerful trouble,

     Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

   • 1798, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Fears in Solitude, London: J. Johnson, pp. 4-5,^[3]

     […] and bold with joy,

     Forth from his dark and lonely hiding-place

     (Portentous sight) the owlet, ATHEISM,

     Sailing on obscene wings athwart the noon,

     Drops his blue-fringed lids, and holds them close,

     And, hooting at the glorious sun in heaven,

     Cries out, “where is it?”

2. A young owl; owling.
3. One of a species of small owls, such as Athene noctua.
4. An owlet moth.

Synonyms

• owling, howlet, houlet

Derived terms

• owlet moth (Noctuidae)
• long-whiskered owlet (Xenoglaux loweryi)

Translations

References

• owlet in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• Towle, towel