loon

loon

any of an order (Gaviiformes) of fish-eating diving birds, with a sharp bill and webbed feet, found mainly in subarctic regions: noted for its weird cry

Origin of loon

altered (by associated, association with loon) from earlier loom from Old Norse lomr from Indo-European echoic base an unverified form l?- from source Classical Latin latrare, to bark

a clumsy, stupid person
a crazy person
Scot. a boy
Archaic a rogue

Origin of loon

Scottish lown, loun from Middle English lowen from uncertain or unknown; perhaps or akin to Middle Dutch loen

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"loon." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 23 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/LOON>.

APA Style

loon. (n.d.). Retrieved January 23rd, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/LOON

loon

noun

Any of several fish-eating diving birds of the genus Gavia of northern regions, having a short tail, webbed feet, and a laughlike cry.

Origin of loon

Perhaps alteration of dialectal loom guillemot, diver from Old Norse lōmr

noun

Informal

A person who is foolish or crazy.

Origin of loon

Probably from loon ¹ ( from its loud cry )and influenced by lunatic

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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MLA Style

"loon." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 23 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/LOON>.

APA Style

loon. (n.d.). Retrieved January 23rd, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/LOON

Noun

(plural loons)

idler, lout
(chiefly Scotland, Ulster) boy, lad
(chiefly Scotland) harlot; mistress
(chiefly Scotland) simpleton; (also (slang)) crazy or deranged person.
(Ireland) English Soldier of an expeditionary army in Ireland.

Origin

from Middle English loun

popular etymology associates it slang-wise with lunatic, see loony.

Noun

(plural loons)

(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.

Origin

Of Scandinavian origin, akin to Old Norse lÃ³mr (“loon"), compare lament.

English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.

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Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"loon." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 23 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/LOON>.

APA Style

loon. (n.d.). Retrieved January 23rd, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/LOON

loon - Computer Definition

See Project Loon.

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