owlet

From owl +‎ -et. Compare howlet.

• IPA^(key): /ˈaʊlət/

owlet (plural owlets)

1. Diminutive of owl
   • c. 1590 (date written), G[eorge] P[eele], The Old Wiues Tale. […], London: […] Iohn Danter, for Raph Hancocke, and Iohn Hardie, […], published 1595, →OCLC:

     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. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:

     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, pages 4–5:

     […] 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.
   • 2023, John Himmelman, Discovering Moths, page 39:

     Noticeable features found in many of the owlets are two markings that often appear on the upper forewings.

• owling, howlet, houlet

• “owlet”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

• Towle, towel