ululate

English

WOTD – 4 July 2006

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ululō, ululātus, of imitative origin. Cognate with Spanish aullar (“to howl”) and ulular (“to hoot”), and French ululer (“to howl”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈjuːljuleɪt/, /ˈʌljəleɪt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Verb

ululate (third-person singular simple present ululates, present participle ululating, simple past and past participle ululated)

1. to howl loudly or prolongedly in lamentation or joy
   • 1915, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear:

     Should I ever marry, Watson, I should hope to inspire my wife with some feeling which would prevent her from being walked off by a housekeeper when my corpse was lying within a few yards of her. It was badly stage-managed; for even the rawest investigators must be struck by the absence of the usual feminine ululation.

2. to produce a rapid and prolonged series of sharp noises with one's voice.

Synonyms

• (to howl): bay, howl, wail

Related terms

• ululant
• ululation

Translations

to howl loudly

• Aromanian: urlu, aurlu
• Bulgarian: вия (bg) (vija)
• Catalan: ulular (ca), udolar (ca)
• Czech: skučet
• Dutch: ululeren
• Finnish: ulvoa (fi)
• French: ululer (fr), hululer (fr)
• Friulian: urlâ
• German: heulen (de)
• Greek: αλαλάζω (el) (alalázo)
• Hungarian: üvölt (hu)
• Ido: ulular (io)
• Italian: ululare (it)
• Korean: 울다 (ko) (ulda), 울부짖다 (ulbujitda), 우짖다 (ko) (ujitda)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: nalîn (ku)

• Latin: ululō
• Mpade: swe
• Norman: heurler
• Portuguese: ulular (pt)
• Romanian: urla (ro)
• Romansch: urlar, üerler
• Serbo-Croatian: urlati (sh), zavijati (sh)
• Spanish: ulular (es)
• Venetan: urlar

Italian

Etymology 1

Verb

ululate

1. inflection of ululare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2

Participle

ululate f pl

1. feminine plural of ululato

Latin

Verb

ululāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of ululō

Spanish

Verb

ululate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of ulular combined with te