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callow

 - 3 dictionary results

cal⋅low

[kal-oh]
–adjective
1. immature or inexperienced: a callow youth.
2. (of a young bird) featherless; unfledged.
–noun
3. a recently hatched worker ant.

Origin:
bef. 1000; ME, OE calu bald; c. D kaal, G kahl bald, OCS golŭ bare


cal⋅low⋅ness, noun


1. untried, green, raw; naive, puerile, jejune.


1. mature, adult, experienced.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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cal·low   (kāl'ō)   
adj.  Lacking adult maturity or experience; immature: a callow young man.

[Middle English calwe, bald, from Old English calu.]
cal'low·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

callow 
O.E. calu "bare, bald," prob. from W.Gmc. *kalwaz, perhaps from L. or Celt. From young birds with no feathers, meaning extended to any young inexperienced thing or creature (1580).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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