Standard Lemma guide

ululation

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /juːljʊˈleɪʃ(ə)n/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ʌljʊ-/
  • General-American: /ˌjuljuˈleɪʃən/
  • General-American: /ˌʌljə-/
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -eɪʃən
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The act of ululating; a long, loud, wavering cry or howl.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a long loud emotional utterance

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he gave a howl of pain
  • howls of laughter
  • their howling had no effect

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: howl, howling

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: utterance, vocalization

History

Etymology

] Borrowed from Latin ululātiō, from ululō (“to howl, shriek, yell”) (from a reduplicated Proto-Indo-European imitative root) + -ātiō (suffix forming nouns relating to some action or the result of an action) (from Proto-Indo-European *-tis (suffix forming abstract or action nouns from verb roots)). By surface analysis, ululate + -ion.

Across languages

Translations

18 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: زَغْرَدَة (zaḡrada) — long, loud cry or howl
  • Arabic: هَلْهُولَة (halhūla) — long, loud cry or howl
  • Iraqi Arabic: هَلْهُولَة — long, loud cry or howl
  • Bulgarian: вой (voj) — long, loud cry or howl
  • French: you-you — long, loud cry or howl
  • Greek: ολολυγή (ololygí) — long, loud cry or howl
  • Hebrew: צהלולים (tsahalulim) — long, loud cry or howl
  • Latin: ululātus — long, loud cry or howl
  • Latin: ululātiō — long, loud cry or howl
  • Mpade: swe — long, loud cry or howl
  • Persian: کل (kel) — long, loud cry or howl
  • Polish: zawodzenie — long, loud cry or howl
  • Polish: wycie — long, loud cry or howl
  • Polish: lamentowanie — long, loud cry or howl
  • Romanian: urlet — long, loud cry or howl
  • Russian: улюлю́канье (uljuljúkanʹje) — long, loud cry or howl
  • Turkish: zılgıt — long, loud cry or howl
  • Ukrainian: завивання (zavyvannja) — long, loud cry or howl