Wiktionary

loon

See also: Loon and lo-on

English

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈluːn/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -uːn

Etymology 1

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From Middle English louen, lowen (“rascal; rogue”), probably of Middle Dutch or Middle Low German origin. Compare Dutch loen (“simpleton”). Or, related to sense 2, due to the bird's loud cry.[1] Folk etymology associates it slang-wise with lunatic, though the latter may have influenced it; see loony.

Noun

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loon (plural loons)

  1. (slang) A crazy or deranged person; a lunatic.
    • 1971, Richard Carpenter, Catweazle and the Magic Zodiac, Harmondsworth: Puffin Books, page 67:
      An electric fire came next, followed by an umbrella and then a colander. "This bowl will carry no water," he muttered. "Some loon hath pierced it with holes."
    • 1971, Marc Bolan (lyrics and music), “Cosmic Dancer”, in Electric Warrior, performed by T. Rex:
      What's it like to be a loon? / I liken it to a balloon
  2. (obsolete) An idler, a lout.
  3. (chiefly Scotland, Ulster) A boy, a lad.
  4. (chiefly Scotland) A harlot; mistress.
  5. (chiefly Scotland) A simpleton.
  6. (Ireland, historical) An English soldier of an expeditionary army in Ireland.
  7. (traffic engineering) A round area of pavement that protrudes from one side of a road to accommodate turning vehicles with a wide turning circle.
Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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See also
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References

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  1. ^ “loon”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.

Etymology 2

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Common loon with chick

Of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse lómr (“loon”), ultimately imitative of the bird's cry, particularly when it's in danger. Distantly related to lament, probably sharing Proto-Indo-European *leh₂- (expressive root).

Noun

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loon (plural loons)

  1. (US, Canada) Any of various birds, of the order Gaviiformes, of North America and Europe that dive for fish and have a short tail, webbed feet and a yodeling cry.
    • 1634, William Wood, “Of the Birds and Fowles both of Land and Water”, in New Englands Prospect. A True, Lively, and Experimentall Description of that Part of America, Commonly Called New England; […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, for Iohn Bellamie, […], →OCLC, 1st part, page 31:
      The Loone is an ill ſhap'd thing like a Cormorant; but that he can neyther goe nor flye; he maketh a noiſe ſometimes like a Sovvgelders horne.
    • 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H. L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 286:
      [O]h, yes! the loon does shriek dreadfully - particularly when there's fine rain […]
    • 1903, Zane Grey, Betty Zane, New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers, →OCLC:
      He came again to her and she said: ‘Run swifter than the deer, be more cunning than the beaver, dive deeper than the loon.’
    • 1921, Edna St. Vincent Millay, “The Blue-Flag in the Bog”, in Second April‎[1]:
      And I listened for a voice;— / But my heart was all I heard; / Not a screech-owl, not a loon, / Not a tree-toad said a word.
Synonyms
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  • (bird of order Gaviiformes): diver
Derived terms
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Translations
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References

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  • Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967

Anagrams

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Afrikaans

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Etymology

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From Dutch loon, from Middle Dutch loon, from Old Dutch lōn.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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loon (plural lone, diminutive loontjie)

  1. wage

Dutch

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Middle Dutch loon, from Old Dutch lōn, from Proto-West Germanic *laun.

Noun

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loon n (plural lonen, diminutive loontje n)

  1. wage, pay, reward
    Synonym: salaris
Derived terms
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Descendants
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  • Afrikaans: loon
  • Negerhollands: loon

Etymology 2

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

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loon

  1. inflection of lonen:
    1. first-person singular present indicative
    2. imperative

Etymology 3

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

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loon

  1. plural of loo (“clearing”)

Ingrian

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Postposition

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loon

  1. Alternative spelling of loonna

References

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  • Ruben E. Nirvi (1971) Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 276
  • Olga I. Konkova, Nikita A. Dyachkov (2014) Inkeroin Keel: Пособие по Ижорскому Языку‎[2], →ISBN, page 14

Middle Dutch

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Etymology 1

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From Old Dutch *lōn, from Old Dutch *lōn, from Proto-West Germanic *laun.

Noun

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lôon m or n

  1. wage, payment for services or work
  2. reward
  3. value
Inflection
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This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Derived terms
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Descendants
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Etymology 2

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Dative plural of lô.

Noun

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lôon ?

  1. Borgloon (a city in modern Belgium)
  2. Loon (a county)
Inflection
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This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants
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Further reading

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Oromo

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Etymology

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From Proto-Cushitic, from Proto-Afroasiatic. Cognates include Hadiyya laro, Saho laa, Afar láa, Somali lo', Boon loy, Burji láli, Gedeo lalo, Awngi əllwa, Blin ləwi, Xamtanga ləwa, Iraqw slee, Kw'adza hleko and Maay hliŋé.[1]

Noun

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loon

  1. cattle

References

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  • Oromo Dictionary by Takilee Qinaaxxii
  1. ^ Appleyard, David (2006) A Comparative Dictionary of Agaw languages (Kuschitische Sprachstudien), volume 24, Köln, Germany: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag, →ISBN, page 49

Scots

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Etymology

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Uncertain, but compare English loon.

Noun

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loon (plural loons)

  1. (Doric Scots) boy, young man
    Synonyms: (in other dialects) lad, laddie
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