English to French translation

Chouette

July 31, 2006

Chouette chouette

Chouette, adjective
Great. From Old French choeter, to be appearance-conscious, smart, or from Italian civetta (a smart, appearance-conscious woman).

Chouette, feminine noun
Owl. Diminutive form of Old French choue, from popular Latin cawa.

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UPDATE

Oh dear. This is not a chouette, it's a hibou (it's got ears!). I hope I haven't offended nocturnal bird lovers.

Comments

I think an owl like the one in the picture is called "hibou", not "chouette". Was "chouette" ever generic over owls with "ears" too, or is my 19th century French dictionary (which suggests that it was once) just not to be trusted about birds ?

Well spotted. I checked and you're right, if it's got ears, it's a "hibou". Somehow I always thought that a "hibou" was a male "chouette", possibly because of the expressions "vieux hibou" and "vieille chouette" for bad-tempered old people of both sexes... Thanks!

Thank you Celine for another interesting blog topic. We wonder if you are able to tell us the most common domestic owl..?

That's right.. it's a teet owl! Fnar fnar

Hibou moyen-duc?

I really wish I had looked at the card that bore his name, but from a quick research, it looks like it's a hibou grand-duc (Eagle Owl).

In that case it doesn't deserve a diminutive!

Do you know what is the connection – if any – with the game of chouette, a version of backgammon played in a team?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backgammon_chouette

One explanation that I've found is that the owl is a bird that is generally bullied by day birds such as crows, mapgies and others, like the player in the box (the "chouette" in French), who has to fend off three opponents.

I'm not entirely sure it's the real origin, but that's the best I could find. And I like it!

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July 27, 2006

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