owlet

English edit

From owl +‎ -et. Compare howlet.

owlet (plural owlets)

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^[1], 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?”
A young owl; owling.
One of a species of small owls, such as Athene noctua.
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.

a young owl