Poults

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Young domestic fowl, particularly turkeys, that are newly hatched or just a few weeks old
2. also denotes young chicks of certain game birds in a broader agricultural context
3. Young birds, especially those of turkeys, in their early stages of development following hatching

Etymology: "Poults" is simply the plural of "poult," a young turkey (or, less often, another young fowl) freshly hatched. The singular has a surprising relative: "pullet," a young hen, which is its doublet, two words from the same root that reached English by different routes. Both trace back to the Latin "pulla," meaning a young animal or chick. That Latin root passed into Old French as "poule," meaning hen, and French formed a diminutive, "poulet," meaning young fowl. Middle English borrowed it as "pulet" or "polet," which gradually shortened to "pult." The same French family also gave English "poultry," so the birds on a farm and the young turkeys in a brood share a single ancestor.

Synonyms: chicks, young birds