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Origin and history of yowl

yowl(v.)

"give a long, distressful or mournful cry," c. 1200, youlen, yuhelen, probably of imitative origin (compare jubilant). Related: Yowled; yowler; yowling. The noun is recorded from mid-15c.

also from c. 1200

Entries linking to yowl

jubilant(adj.)

1660s (Milton), from Latin iubilantem (nominative iubilans), present participle of iubilare "to let out whoops," in Christian writers, "to shout for joy," related to iubilum "wild shout," from Proto-Italic *iu, an exclamation of joy that probably was in Proto-Indo-European (cognates: Greek iu, an interjection of amazement, iuge "crying;" Middle High German ju, juch, an exclamation of joy; Dutch juichen, Old Norse yla, English yowl). With ending as in sibilant. Related: Jubilantly.

yawl(v.)

late 14c., "cry out loudly," from pain, grief, or distress; imitative. By 1540s as "call out, shout, bawl." Related: Yawled; yawling. Compare yowl.

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    caterwaul
    "make a disagreeable howling or screeching," like that of a cat in heat, late 14c., caterwrawen, perhaps from Low German katerwaulen "cry like a cat," or else formed in English from cater, from Middle Dutch cater "tomcat" + Middle English waul "to yowl," which is apparently from
    yammer
    late 15c., "to lament," probably from Middle Dutch jammeren and cognate Middle English yeoumeren, "to mourn, complain," from Old English geomrian "to lament," from geomor "sorrowful," probably of imitative origin. Cognate with Old Saxon jamar "sad, sorrowful," German Jammer "lame
    roar
    Middle English roren, "shout out, cry out with a full, loud, continued sound," from Old English rarian "roar, wail, lament, bellow, cry," probably of imitative origin (compare Middle Dutch reeren, German röhren "to roar;" Sanskrit ragati "barks;" Lithuanian rieju, rieti "to scold
    shout
    c. 1300, shouten, schowten "to call or cry out loudly," a word of unknown origin; perhaps from the root of shoot (v.) on the notion of "throw the voice out loudly," or related to Old Norse skuta "a taunt" (compare scout (v.2)); both of which are reconstructed to be from PIE root
    south
    Old English suþ "southward, to or toward the south, southern, in the south," from Proto-Germanic *sunthaz, perhaps literally "sun-side" (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian suth "southward, in the south," Middle Dutch suut, Dutch zuid, German Süden), and related to base of *sun
    item
    late 14c., originally an adverb, "moreover, in addition," from Latin item (adv.) "likewise, just so, moreover," probably from ita "thus," id "it" (see id) + adverbial ending -tem (compare idem "the same"). The Latin adverb was used to introduce a new fact or statement, and in Fre
    time
    Old English tima "limited space of time," from Proto-Germanic *timon- "time" (source also of Old Norse timi "time, proper time," Swedish timme "an hour"), from PIE *di-mon-, suffixed form of root *da- "to divide." The abstract sense of "time as an indefinite continuous duration"
    mite
    "tiny animal, minute arachnid," Old English mite "minute, parasitic insect or arachnid," from Proto-Germanic *miton (source also of Middle Dutch mite, Dutch mijt, Old High German miza, Danish mide) meaning originally perhaps "the cutter," in reference to its bite, from Proto-Germ
    yell
    Old English giellan (West Saxon), gellan (Mercian) "to yell, sound, shout," class III strong verb (past tense geal, past participle gollen), from Proto-Germanic *gel- (source also of Old Norse gjalla "to resound," Middle Dutch ghellen, Dutch gillen, Old High German gellan, German
    shriek
    "to scream; screech; utter a sharp, shrill cry," from pain, fear, grief, also of laughter, a 16c. variant of scrycke, skriken (c. 1200), from Old Norse skrækja "to screech" (see screech), probably of imitative origin. Transitive sense is from 1590s. Related: Shrieked; shrieking.

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