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scops (SKOPS) - n., any of several small Old World owls of genus Otus, especially the European scops owl (O. scops).
Not to be confused with the plural of scop, a poet or bard (the Old English equivalent of Old Norse skald) (TIL that scop is the ancestor of modern scoff and scald is the ancestor of scold, suggesting scops and scalds were known for mockery). The name has been used since around 1802 (though what did they call it in English before then?) from Latin via the species name (given in 1809), from Ancient Greek skṓps, a type of small horned owl that is probably but not provably O. scops, from skopós, watcher, from sképtomai, I look at.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
---L.
Not to be confused with the plural of scop, a poet or bard (the Old English equivalent of Old Norse skald) (TIL that scop is the ancestor of modern scoff and scald is the ancestor of scold, suggesting scops and scalds were known for mockery). The name has been used since around 1802 (though what did they call it in English before then?) from Latin via the species name (given in 1809), from Ancient Greek skṓps, a type of small horned owl that is probably but not provably O. scops, from skopós, watcher, from sképtomai, I look at.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
---L.
