different between wail vs honk

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: w?l, IPA^(key): /we?l/, [we??]
• Rhymes: -e?l
• Homophone: wale
• Homophone: whale (in accents with the wine-whine merger)

Etymology 1

c. 1300, Middle English weilen, waylen (“to sob, cry, wail”), from Old Norse væla (“to wail”), from væ, vei (“woe”), from Proto-Germanic *wai (whence also Old English w? (“woe”) (English woe)), from Proto-Indo-European *wai.

The verb is first attested in the intransitive sense; the transitive sense developed in mid-14^th c.. The noun came from the verb.

Verb

wail (third-person singular simple present wails, present participle wailing, simple past and past participle wailed)

1. (intransitive) To cry out, as in sorrow or anguish.
2. (intransitive) To weep, lament persistently or bitterly.
3. (intransitive) To make a noise like mourning or crying.

4. (transitive) To lament; to bewail; to grieve over.
5. (slang, music) To perform with great liveliness and force.

Derived terms

• bewail
• wailer
• wailingly

Translations

Noun

wail (plural wails)

1. A prolonged cry, usually high-pitched, especially as of grief or anguish. [from 15^th c.]

2. Any similar sound as of lamentation; a howl.

3. A sound made by emergency vehicle sirens, contrasted with "yelp" which is higher-pitched and faster.

Translations

References

Etymology 2

From Old Norse val (“choice”). Compare Icelandic velja (“to choose”). More at wale.

Verb

wail (third-person singular simple present wails, present participle wailing, simple past and past participle wailed)

1. (obsolete) Synonym of wale (“to choose; to select”)
   • c. 1500, Robert Henryson, Template:The Testament of Cresseid

     Wailed wine and metes

References

• wail in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• wail in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• wail at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• wali, wila, w?li

Asilulu

Noun

wail

1. water

References

• James T. Collins, The Historical Relationships of the Languages of Central Maluku, Indonesia (1983), page 70

Cebuano

Etymology

Blend of wala (“not”) +? ilhi (“known, recognized”)

Pronunciation

• (General Cebuano) IPA^(key): /?wa?il?/
• Rhymes: -il?
• Hyphenation: wa?il

Noun

wail

1. an insignificant person
2. an unknown person or thing
3. an unknown celebrity or politician

English

Etymology 1

Onomatopoeic.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /h??k/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /h??k/, /h??k/
• Rhymes: -??k

Verb

honk (third-person singular simple present honks, present participle honking, simple past and past participle honked)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To use a car horn.

2. (intransitive) To make a loud, harsh sound like a car horn.
3. (intransitive) To make the vocal sound of a goose.
4. (slang) To vomit: regurgitate the contents of one's stomach.
5. (slang) To have a bad smell.
6. (informal) To squeeze playfully, usually a breast or nose.

Derived terms

• honker
• honking

Translations

Noun

honk (countable and uncountable, plural honks)

1. The sound produced by a typical car horn.
2. The cry of a goose.
3. (informal) A bad smell.

Translations

Interjection

honk

1. Imitation of car horn, used, for example, to clear a path for oneself.

Translations

Etymology 2

Noun

honk (plural honks)

1. Clipping of honky.

Anagrams

• Kohn, khon

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch honc, likely through Old Dutch from Proto-Germanic *hank-, *hunk-. Only has cognates in the Frisian languages and possibly in the Old High German placename Hancwin. Since cognates outside of Germanic are lacking, the word is probably of substrate origin. Possibly related to haak (“hook”) and hoek (“corner”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???k/
• Hyphenation: honk
• Rhymes: -??k

Noun

honk n (plural honken, diminutive honkje n)

1. (somewhat rare) home, place where one belongs, shelter
2. (games) base (safe zone, e.g. in baseball and similar sports)

Synonyms

• (home): thuis, heem

Derived terms

• honkbal
• honkvast
• jeugdhonk
• krachthonk

References