callow

callow
\ \ [OE] Old English calu meant ‘bald’.
\ \ Eventually, the word came to be applied to young birds which as yet had no feathers, and by the late 16th century it had been extended metaphorically to any young inexperienced person or creature. It probably came, via West Germanic *kalwaz, from Latin calvusbald’.
\ \ Cf.CALVARY

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Callow — could refer to:;Places *County Carlow Republic of Ireland *Callow, Derbyshire *Callow, Herefordshire *Callow, Shropshire;People *Simon Callow, actor *Phillip Callow, writer …   Wikipedia

  • Callow — Cal low, a. [OE. calewe, calu, bald, AS. calu; akin to D. kaal, OHG. chalo, G. Kuhl; cf. L. calvus.] [1913 Webster] 1. Destitute of feathers; naked; unfledged. [1913 Webster] An in the leafy summit, spied a nest, Which, o er the callow young, a… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Callow — Cal*low , n. (Zo[ o]l.) [Named from its note.] A kind of duck. See {Old squaw}. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • callow — index inexperienced, jejune (lacking maturity), juvenile, naive, puerile, uncouth Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • callow — O.E. calu bare, bald, prob. from W.Gmc. *kalwaz (Cf. M.Du. calu, Du. kaal, O.H.G. kalo, Ger. Kahl), perhaps from L. or Celt. From young birds with no feathers, meaning extended to any young inexperienced thing or creature (1570s). Apparently not… …   Etymology dictionary

  • callow — green, crude, raw, *rude, rough, uncouth Analogous words: puerile, boyish, juvenile, *youthful: naive, ingenuous, simple, unsophisticated, artless, *natural: adolescent, pubescent (see corresponding nouns at YOUTH) Antonyms: full fledged, grown… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • callow — [adj] immature crude, green, guileless, inexperienced, infant, jejune, jellybean*, juvenile, kid, low tech*, naive, not dry behind ears*, puerile, raw, sophomore, tenderfoot, unbaked, unfledged, unripe, unsophisticated, untrained, untried, young; …   New thesaurus

  • callow — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ (of a young person) inexperienced and immature. DERIVATIVES callowly adverb callowness noun. ORIGIN Old English, «bald», probably from Latin calvus bald , later «unfledged» …   English terms dictionary

  • callow — [kal′ō] adj. [ME calwe < OE calu, bare, bald < IE base * gal , bald, naked > L calvus, bald, Czech holý, naked, Ger kahl, bald] 1. still lacking the feathers needed for flying; unfledged 2. young and inexperienced; immature callowness n …   English World dictionary

  • Callow — Simon Callow (* 13. Juni 1949 in London, Großbritannien) ist ein britischer Schauspieler. Leben und Werk Callow studierte an der Queen s University in Belfast. Er debütierte als Schauspieler im Film Amadeus (1984). Im Film Vier Hochzeiten und ein …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Callow — There are three possible sources of this intriguing name, the first being that it is locational from places in Derbyshire and Herefordshire. Two of the places, near Wirksworth and Hathersage, in Derbyshire derive from the old English pre 7th… …   Surnames reference

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