Kauz

Inherited from Middle High German kūz, kūze, from Old High German *kūz, from Proto-Germanic *kūts (“bird of prey”), from Proto-Indo-European *gū- (“to cry, screech”). Cognate with Old English cȳta (“kite, bittern”). See kite.

• IPA^(key): /kaʊ̯t͡s/

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Kauz m (strong, genitive Kauzes, plural Käuze)

1. owl; (specifically) strigid
2. (figurative) crank, odd fellow, codger
   • 1903, Thomas Mann, Tristan‎^[1]; republished as Helen Tracy Lowe-Porter, transl., Stories of Three Decades, 1922, page 144:

     Ein Kauz, ein ganz wunderlicher Kauz! Herrn Klöterjahns Gattin dachte zuweilen nach über ihn, denn sie hatte sehr viel Zeit zum Nachdenken.

     An odd sort, a very odd sort. Herr Klöterjahn's wife thought about him sometimes; for she had much leisure for thought.

• Eule
• Kautz (surname)
• Uhu

• “Kauz” in Duden online
• “Kauz” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache