From Middle English louen, lowen (“rascal; rogue”), probably of Middle Dutch or Middle Low German origin. Compare Dutch loen (“simpleton”). Or, related to etymology 2, due to the bird's loud cry. Folk etymology associates it slang-wise with lunatic, though the latter may have influenced it; see loony.
Meanings
(slang) A crazy or deranged person; a lunatic.
An electric fire came next, followed by an umbrella and then a colander. "This bowl will carry no water," he muttered. "Some loon hath pierced it with holes." 1971, Richard Carpenter, Catweazle and the Magic Zodiac, Harmondsworth: Puffin Books, page 67:
What's it like to be a loon? / I liken it to a balloon 1971, Marc Bolan, “Cosmic Dancer”, in Electric Warrior, performed by T. Rex:
(obsolete) An idler, a lout.
The diuell damne thee blacke, thou cream-fac'd Loone: Where got'ſt thou that Gooſe-looke. c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii], page 149:
(Scotland, Ulster) A boy, a lad.
(Scotland) A harlot; mistress.
(Scotland) A simpleton.
(Ireland, historical) An English soldier of an expeditionary army in Ireland.
A round area of pavement that protrudes from one side of a road to accommodate turning vehicles with a wide turning circle.
(abbreviation, alt-of, clipping) Clipping of balloon.
psycho (crazy person) · wacko (crazy person) · lunatic (crazy person) · bulb-out (round area of pavement)
Translations (31)
pt maluco (a crazy person) · de Faulenzer (idler) · mk лу́дак (a crazy person) · pt louco (a crazy person) · es lunático (a crazy person) · fi seko (a crazy person) · de Spinner (a crazy person) · de Traumtänzer (idler) · fr fou (a crazy person) · pt doido (a crazy person) · it matto (a crazy person) · nl gek (a crazy person) · it scemo (a crazy person) · bg откачалник (a crazy person) · mk бу́дала (a crazy person) · cs cvok (a crazy person) · fi sekopää (a crazy person) · de Irrer (a crazy person) · de Bekloppter (a crazy person) · bg кибик (idler) · de Verrückter (a crazy person) · fi lusmu (idler) · id gila (a crazy person) · bg безделник (idler) · it stolto (a crazy person) · it fannullone (a crazy person) · fi hullu (a crazy person) · bg откачалка (a crazy person) · nl getikte (a crazy person) · ru безумец (a crazy person) · el παλαβός (a crazy person)
Of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse lómr (“loon”), ultimately imitative of the bird's cry, particularly when it's in danger. Distantly related to lament, probably sharing Proto-Indo-European *leh₂- (expressive root).
Meanings
(Canada, US) Any of various birds, of the order Gaviiformes, of North America and Europe that dive for fish and have a short tail, webbed feet and a yodeling cry.
The Loone is an ill ſhap'd thing like a Cormorant; but that he can neyther goe nor flye; he maketh a noiſe ſometimes like a Sovvgelders horne. 1634, William Wood, “Of the Birds and Fowles both of Land and Water”, in New Englands Prospect. A True, Lively, and Experimentall Description of that Part of America, Commonly Called New England; […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, for Iohn Bellamie, […], →OCLC, 1st part, page 31:
He came again to her and she said: ‘Run swifter than the deer, be more cunning than the beaver, dive deeper than the loon.’ 1903, Zane Grey, Betty Zane, New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers, →OCLC:
[O]h, yes! the loon does shriek dreadfully - particularly when there's fine rain […] 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H. L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 286:
And I listened for a voice;— / But my heart was all I heard; / Not a screech-owl, not a loon, / Not a tree-toad said a word. 1921, Edna St. Vincent Millay, “The Blue-Flag in the Bog”, in Second April:
sl slapnik (bird of order Gaviiformes) · it strolaga (bird of order Gaviiformes) · mic gwimu (bird of order Gaviiformes) · pl nur (bird of order Gaviiformes) · ang sċealfor (bird of order Gaviiformes) · lt naras (bird of order Gaviiformes) · kpv токты (bird of order Gaviiformes) · tr dalgıçkuşu (bird of order Gaviiformes) · kpv гӧгӧра (bird of order Gaviiformes) · ro corcodel (bird of order Gaviiformes) · eo granda kolimbo (bird of order Gaviiformes) · pt mergulhão (bird of order Gaviiformes) · ja 嘴黒阿比 (bird of order Gaviiformes) · fr plongeon (bird of order Gaviiformes) · gl aro (bird of order Gaviiformes) · az qaqara (bird of order Gaviiformes) · ko 아비 (bird of order Gaviiformes) · de Seetaucher (bird of order Gaviiformes) · mia maankwa (bird of order Gaviiformes) · xal ахун (bird of order Gaviiformes) · mhr токталудо (bird of order Gaviiformes) · eu pulunpari (bird of order Gaviiformes) · nv naalʼeełídaakį́ (bird of order Gaviiformes) · uk гагара (bird of order Gaviiformes) · mrj тыкты (bird of order Gaviiformes) · hu búvármadár (bird of order Gaviiformes) · cs potáplice (bird of order Gaviiformes) · et kaur (bird of order Gaviiformes) · nl duiker (bird of order Gaviiformes) · sh плијенор (bird of order Gaviiformes) · oj maang (bird of order Gaviiformes) · kum гьанкъут (bird of order Gaviiformes) · gd learga (bird of order Gaviiformes) · es colimbo (bird of order Gaviiformes) · sh gnjúrac (bird of order Gaviiformes) · gl mobella (bird of order Gaviiformes) · non lómr (bird of order Gaviiformes) · cr ᒪᑿ (bird of order Gaviiformes) · bg гмурец (bird of order Gaviiformes) · nb lom (bird of order Gaviiformes) · pt mobelha (bird of order Gaviiformes) · fr huard (bird of order Gaviiformes) · ca calàbria (bird of order Gaviiformes) · crk mâhkwa (bird of order Gaviiformes) · tr dalgıç (bird of order Gaviiformes) · ga foitheach (bird of order Gaviiformes) · mhr тукто (bird of order Gaviiformes) · cmn 潛鳥 /潜鸟 (bird of order Gaviiformes) · nl zeeduiker (bird of order Gaviiformes) · gld а̄ни (bird of order Gaviiformes) · fi kuikka (bird of order Gaviiformes) · sv lom (bird of order Gaviiformes) · mhr тӧрсияк (bird of order Gaviiformes) · id loon (bird of order Gaviiformes) · mk ну́ркач (bird of order Gaviiformes) · ro bodârlău (bird of order Gaviiformes) · sk potáplica (bird of order Gaviiformes) · ru гага́ра (bird of order Gaviiformes) · pot mang (bird of order Gaviiformes) · da lom (bird of order Gaviiformes) · fo lómur (bird of order Gaviiformes) · ro cufundar (bird of order Gaviiformes) · dsb huska (bird of order Gaviiformes) · sh plijenor (bird of order Gaviiformes) · cy trochydd (bird of order Gaviiformes) · sh гњу́рац (bird of order Gaviiformes) · ga lóma (bird of order Gaviiformes) · gl papoia (bird of order Gaviiformes)