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ululate

UK/ˈjuːljuleɪt/US/ˈjuːljuleɪt/
verbC2Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speechToo rare in one of the two pools to compare — fewer than 20 uses in speech or in writing

Other forms: ululating

To ululate is to make a long wavering wailing cry. The women ululated, ululating in grief, a rising ululation.

It is a real and formal sound in much of North Africa and the Middle East, used at weddings as much as at funerals, and it is made by moving the tongue rapidly. The Latin imitates the sound directly.

Definitions of ululate

  1. 1verbululateTo make a long wavering wailing cry.C2

    “When news of the victory reached the village, the women came out to ululate in the street.”

ululate is a crying.

Where it comes from

Latin ululare imitates the sound of a wailing cry.

  1. Latin

    ululō, ululātus

  2. English, today

    ululate

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

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire

Practise this word