fowln.
/faʊl/, U.S. /faʊl/The forms containing x are from the Cotton MS. of the Cursor Mundi; perhaps miscopied from an original which had ȝ (or possibly þ).† 2. In wider sense: winged creatures. Also collective in plural sense. Obsolete.
1. collective.1603 M. Drayton Barrons Wars vi. lxiv. 147 The silly fowle all prostrate to her power.1605 W. Camden Remaines i. 1 Stored with infinite delicate fowle.1769 O. Goldsmith Rom. Hist. II. 273 In this, were served up..seven thousand fowl of the most valuable kinds.1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake I. xvii. 303 All the fowl of heaven flocking to the feast.† b. In narrower sense: winged game. Obsolete.† c. With some modifying addition; as fowl of chase, fowl of flight, fowl of game, fowl of ravin. Obsolete. fowl of prey n. Obsolete = bird of prey at prey n. 4a.figurative.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 21276 Þe firþ Iohn, fowel of [Vesp. on] fliȝt.
a. Any feathered vertebrate animal; = bird n. 3 (see note). Now rare exc. collective.
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the world > animals > birds > [noun] > bird
fowlOE
bird?c1225
wing1601
feathera1616
feather-monger1767
feathered friend1933
the world > animals > birds > [noun] > collective
fowl-kinc1000
volentinec1380
volatile1382
fowl1866
bird folk1878
OE Beowulf 218 Gewat þa ofer wægholm winde gefysed flota famiheals fugle gelicost.
c1000 West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) viii. 20 Foxas habbað holu and heofenan fuglas [c1160 Hatton fugeles] nest.
c1175 Lamb. Hom. 81 A vuhel com flon from houene into orðe.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 220 We speken of fuȝelene cunde þe beoð iefned to ancre.
a1300 Cursor Mundi 621 Fiss on sund, and fouxl on flight.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 254 Þe herte is ase þe uoȝel þet wolde vly to his wylle.
c1450 Mirour Saluacioun 1002 Thi son wham we..seke als foghil the day.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) vii. 188 Tharfor he slepit as foul on twist.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection i. sig. Aiiii Fowles, and all other creatures..hath place deputed..to them.
1597 A. Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae (ed. 2) 446 I leuir haue euer Ane foule in hand or tway Nor seand ten fleand About me.
1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing ii. iii. 93 Stalke on, stalk on, the foule sits. View more context for this quotation
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 271 To defend them from Eagles and other rauening foules.
1631 T. Fuller Heavie Punishment xxii, in Davids Sinne sig. D2v I for your fowles of Phasis do not care.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 250 I saw a great Fowl like a Hawk sit upon a Tree.
1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Iliad in Iliad & Odyssey I. xvii. 293 And the fowls sate with his flesh.
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the world > animals > birds > wild or domestic birds > [noun] > game-bird > collective
fowls of warren1539
feathera1616
fowl1646
wing-game1879
1646 J. Evelyn Mem. (1857) I. 252 Sometimes we shot at fowls and other birds: nothing came amiss.
1763 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting III. ii. 85 In the great anti-chamber [at Chatsworth] are several dead fowl over the chimney, finely executed.
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the world > animals > birds > bird of prey > [noun]
bird of prey1340
fowl of chase1340
fowl of prey1340
fowl of ravin1340
accipitera1398
mittell1457
mittane?a1513
esalon1572
boyter1578
talenter1620
prey-bird1777
raptor1783
flesh-bird1796
raptorial1856
air pirate1885
the world > animals > birds > flight > [noun] > bird that flies
fowl of flight1340
traveller1874
the world > animals > birds > wild or domestic birds > [noun] > game-bird
fowl of game1671
game fowl1716
game bird1770
game1850
bird1877
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 142 Uor þe uoȝeles of praye [Fr. oisiaus de proie], þet byeþ þe dyeulen.
c1381 G. Chaucer Parl. Foules 323 The foules of ravyne Were hyest set.
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (1495) xii. vi. 416 The owle semyth lyke to foules of pray.
c1420 Chron. Vilod. 280 Wyld bestes and folys of flyȝt.
1485 W. Caxton tr. Paris & Vienne (1957) 22 Faulcens, and many other fowles of chace.
1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd ii. 342 Beasts of chase, or Fowl of game, In pastry built. View more context for this quotation
d. A troublesome sailor, one unamenable to discipline. slang.
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society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > seafaring warrior or naval man > [noun] > sailor with specific quality
run1695
queer fellow1883
fowl1937
society > authority > lack of subjection > [noun] > insubordinate person > intractable person > sailor
fowl1937
1937 in E. Partridge Dict. Slang
1938 ‘Giraldus’ Merry Matloe Again 145 I was a ‘fowl’ of the first water. I was always getting ‘run-in’, always in trouble and had no zeal for the Navy whatsoever.
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the world > animals > animal body > general parts > body and limbs > [noun] > wing > winged creature
volatilea1325
fowla1382
pinionist1613
volatica1643
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Ecclus. xi. 3 Short in foules [L. in volatilibus] is a bee.
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (1495) (Tollem. MS.) xii. Introd. To þe ornament of þe eyer parteyneþ briddes and foules [L. volatilia].
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage viii. x. 789 They offered to him [the Sunne] Fowles, from the Butter-flie to the Eagle.
1648 T. Gage Eng.-Amer. (1655) xii. 45 Battes, or Rear-mice and other fowle.
3. The prevailing sense: a ‘barn-door fowl’, a domestic cock or hen; a bird of the genus Gallus. In the U.S. applied also to ‘a domestic duck or turkey’ ( Cent. Dict.). Often with some modifying word prefixed, as barn-door-fowl (see barn door n. 3a), game fowl n., guinea fowl n.
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the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > family Phasianidae (pheasants, etc.) > genus Gallus (domestic fowl) > [noun] > member of (fowl)
chickenOE
chicka1398
fowla1586
biddya1616
chuck1615
pull-fowla1688
chucky1724
dunghill1753
dunghill fowl1796
jungle-fowl1824
chook1888
gump1914
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) iii. xxiii. sig. Xx3 As folkes keepe foule, when they are not fatte inough for their eating.
1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World iv. 76 The Inhabitants plant Corn..and breed a few Fowls.
1841 E. W. Lane tr. Thousand & One Nights I. 123 Fowls simply roasted or boiled.
1879 F. W. Farrar Life & Work St. Paul I. i. iv. 64 The Talmud..devotes one whole treatise..to the proper method of killing a fowl.
4.
a. The flesh of birds used for food. Now only in the phrases fish, flesh, and fowl, etc.
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the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > fowls > [noun]
poultrya1387
pullena1450
fowl1672
1672 O. Walker Of Educ. i. xii. 160 A feast suggests..Fish, Foul, Flesh.
b. In narrower sense: the flesh of the ‘barn-door’ or domestic fowl.
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1861 I. M. Beeton Bk. Househ. Managem. xxxi. 462 Fricasseed Fowl..Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast fowl [etc.].
Compounds
C1. Simple attributive.
fowl-flight n.
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a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3321 At euen cam a fugel-fligt Fro-ward arabie.
fowl-house n.
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1839 Lincoln, etc. Gaz. 12 Feb. 3/4 They went to Mr. F.'s; whose fowl-house they broke open.
fowl-net n.
ΚΠ
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. II. xiii. 134 Tinkering over..fowl~nets or other household-gear.
fowl-yard n.
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1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 27 May 2/3 The lack of interest displayed in their fowl-yards by..British farmers.
C2. Objective.
fowl-keeping n.
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1894 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 3rd Ser. 5 303 It is fowl-keeping on this modest scale that pays.
fowl-rearing n.
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1894 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 3rd Ser. 5 302 A point of cardinal importance..in..fowl-rearing.
fowl-stealer n.
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1825 Sporting Mag. 16 336 Have we..no fowl stealers.
fowl-stealing n.
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1892 Pall Mall Gaz. 24 Mar. 2/1 Poaching is closely allied to fowl-stealing.
C3. Special combinations.
Thesaurus »
Categories »
fowl cholera n. .cholera n. 5.
fowl-foot n. the plant Ornithopus perpusillus.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > leguminous plants > [noun] > vetch
vetchc1300
orobusa1398
tarec1400
ervil1551
ers1578
fowl-foot1578
oreb1587
urle1659
tare-grass1686
orobe1714
thetch1733
twine-grass1743
wood-vetch1766
tare-vetch1811
scorpion-wort1852–6
pigeon pea1884
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball iv. xxix. 487 Ornithopodium..This wild herbe is called in Brabant Uoghelvoet, that is to say in English, Birdes foote, or Fowle foote, bycause his huskes or cods are lyke to a birdes foote.
fowl-grass n.
fowl-meadow-grass n. Poa trivialis.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > [noun] > meadow grass
meadow grass1597
silver grass1600
lovegrass1702
spear-grass1747
bluegrass1751
wiregrass1751
poa1753
poa grass1759
Suffolk grass1759
fowl-meadow-grass1774
penguin grass1776
mead grass1778
June grass1840
weeping Polly1880
1774 J. Adams Jrnl. 28 Feb. in Diary & Autobiogr. (1961) II. 88 Shall I try to introduce fowl Meadow And Herds Grass into the Meadows?
1786 M. Cutler Let. 30 Oct. in W. P. Cutler & J. P. Cutler Life, Jrnls. & Corr. M. Cutler (1888) II. 264 Fowl meadow-grass is cultivated in wet meadows.
fowl paralysis n. Marek's disease, a type of cancer affecting poultry.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of birds > [noun] > disorders of poultry
roup1551
squeck1577
gargil1614
roup1614
the gapes1799
garget1817
snifters1844
white comb1853
bumble foot1854
wry-tail1880
blackhead1894
bacillary white diarrhoea1909
limber-neck1910
(avian or fowl) leucosis complex1922
pullorum1929
perosis1931
fowl paralysis1932
scissor beak1934
blue comb1939
hexamitiasis1941
pullet disease1941
Marek's disease1947
new wheat disease1950
X disease1950
sour crop1951
fowl cholera-
1932 Ann. Reg. Scientific Poultry Breeders' Assoc. 75 There seems little doubt that there is a special condition affecting poultry which, for want of a better name, is termed fowl paralysis.
1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 22 Mar. (Suppl.) 1/2 An outstanding feature is the resistance to leucosis and fowl paralysis.
fowl pest n. (a) = fowl plague n.; (b) = Newcastle disease n. at Newcastle n.1 5.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of birds > [noun] > fowl pest
fowl pest1909
Newcastle disease1927
the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of birds > [noun] > fowl plague
fowl pest1909
fowl plague1937
1909 Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Fowl pest.
1912 J. R. Mohler et al. tr. F. Hutyra & J. Marek Spec. Pathol. Dis. Domest. Animals I. i. xiii. 290 Fowl pest is an acute, contagious, infectious disease of fowls.
1953 ‘M. Innes’ Christmas at Candleshoe x. 110 The other gentlemen had fallen into a grave discourse of fowl-pest, hard-pad and foot-and-mouth disease.
1970 Times 21 Oct. 10/1 The current upsurge of fowl pest is at its most destructive in the factory farming units.
fowl plague n. an acute, highly contagious virus disease of the domestic fowl and other birds that is usually fatal.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of birds > [noun] > fowl plague
fowl pest1909
fowl plague1937
1937 Poultry World Ann. 82 Fowl plague or pest is a very highly infectious disease caused by a virus... The so-called Newcastle Disease closely resembles Fowl plague in many respects, but is caused by a different virus.
1970 Q. Poultry Bull. (Brit. Oil & Cake Mills) Dec. 13 The Fowl Pest Order of 1936 with amendments lays down the legislation governing both Newcastle Disease and Fowl Plague.
fowl pox n. a virus disease of the domestic fowl and other birds, in which lesions appear on feather-free parts of the body or on the mucous membranes of the mouth, nose, or throat.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of birds > [noun] > other disorders of birds
pipa1425
gout1486
rank1709
cholera1834
diphtheria1863
fowl pox1908
myelocytomatosis1933
ornithosis1939
puffinosis1948
angel wing1967
1908 M. H. Hayes tr. Friedberger & Fröhner Vet. Pathol. (ed. 6) II. 425 The causative agents in fowl-pox belong to the group of so-called filtrable agents of infection.
1932 S. H. Gaiger & G. O. Davies Vet. Pathol. & Bacteriol. xxvii. 388 Fowl-pox occurs naturally in fowls, turkeys and other birds.
1953 L. Robinson Mod. Poultry Husb. (ed. 3) xx. 551 Fowl pox is extremely contagious.
fowl-run n. a place where fowls may run, an establishment for breeding fowls.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping birds > poultry-keeping > [noun] > enclosure for poultry
walk1538
barton1552
poultry yard1715
runway1871
fowl-run1886
scratching ground1901
scratching-shed1902
1886 H. F. Lester Under Two Fig Trees 179 In one corner of the little estate is a fowl-run.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
fowlv.
/faʊl/, U.S. /faʊl/ a. intransitive. To catch, hunt, shoot, or snare wildfowl.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > fowling > hunt birds [verb (intransitive)]
fowlc1000
bird1574
c1000 Ælfric Gram. (Z.) xxv. 146 Aucupor, ic fuglie.
1399 W. Langland Richard Redeles ii. 157 Thus ffoulyd this ffaukyn on ffyldis abouȝte.
1519 Presentm. Juries in Surtees Misc. (1888) 32 Þt no man fyshe nor fewle in the dam.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 557/2 I fowle after byrdes, Je vas a la pipée.
1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World vii. 192 The Tenour of them [sc. Commissions] is, to give a Liberty to fish, fowl, and hunt.
1766 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. II. xxvii. 419 Such persons as may thus lawfully hunt, fish, or fowl.
1850 A. Jameson Legends Monastic Orders 93 He went out fowling in a small skiff.
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a1420 T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum 2442 But tonge of man..Nat may be tamed..And after repreef fissheth, clappeth, fouleth.
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 314 Heir hes thou a commodious and meit place for the slauchtir, that thou foules for.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > hunt [verb (transitive)] > beat
beata1400
to put upa1475
tuft1590
tusk1592
fowl1611
flaxa1848
brush1876
1611 B. Jonson Catiline i. sig. D They hunt all grounds; and draw all seas; Foule euery brooke, and bush. View more context for this quotation
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.OE
v.c1000