"Coot" may indeed be
imitative, as the coot produces a variety of calls including a resonant and
querulous /kut/. The Brythonic etymology would refer to the coot's short tail;
the main drawback is that the Dutch word is difficult to explain (why should the
Dutch have imported it from across the Channel?). ... Piotr
Several marine terms in English are from Dutch origin, and a
lot of English words are of Low Dutch origin (medieval), so why not
coot?
Marc