little owl

American

Also owlet

noun

a small, European owl, Athene noctua, often portrayed in art with the goddess Athena.

little owl British

noun

a small Old World owl, Athene noctua, having a speckled brown plumage and flattish head

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of little owl

First recorded in 1550–60

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

little owl

This delightful Christmas tale is the true story of a little owl dubbed Rockefeller.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 9, 2021

"She gave me a little owl, still in my possession, and some good advice."

From BBC ● Jan. 4, 2021

Best animal appearances The little owl with an unusually mobile neck in A Lullaby for the Sorrowful Mystery.

From The Guardian ● Feb. 21, 2016

Don’t let its cuteness fool you: the little owl from this viral video is actually a fearsome, rodent-eating predator.

From National Geographic ● Jul. 27, 2015

A little owl with a slightly flattened, hawklike head peered down at them from one of the branches.

From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023