Kauz

German

Etymology

Inherited from Middle High German kūz, kūze, from Old High German *kūz, from Proto-West Germanic *kūt, from Proto-West Germanic *kūt (“bird of prey”), from Proto-Indo-European *gū- (“to cry, screech”). Cognate with Old English cȳta (“kite, bittern”). See kite. For the sense "crank, old codger" compare English coot (“a foolish or eccentric old person”), which also refers to the bird known as the coot.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaʊ̯t͡s/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Noun

Kauz m (strong, genitive Kauzes, plural Käuze, diminutive Käuzchen n)

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.

Declension

Declension of Kauz [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Kauz	die	Käuze
genitive	eines	des	Kauzes	der	Käuze
dative	einem	dem	Kauz, Kauze1	den	Käuzen
accusative	einen	den	Kauz	die	Käuze

¹Now rare, see notes.

Derived terms

• Bartkauz
• Kaninchenkauz
• kauzig
• Raufusskauz
• Raufußkauz
• Sperlingskauz
• Steinkauz
• Waldkauz

Descendants

• → German Low German: Kauz, Kauter

See also

• Eule
• Kautz (surname)
• Uhu

Further reading

• “Kauz” in Duden online
• “Kauz”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[2] (in German)