falcon

Etymology

From Middle English faucoun, falcon, faulcon, from Old French falcun, from Late Latin falcō (“falcon”), of Germanic origin, probably via Frankish *falkō (“falcon, hawk”), from Proto-Germanic *falkô (“falcon”), from Proto-Indo-European *pol̑- (“pale”), from *pel- (“fallow”). cognates Cognate with Old English *fealca, fealcen (“falcon”), Dutch valk (“falcon, hawk”), German Falke (“falcon, hawk”), Norwegian and Swedish falk (“falcon”), Icelandic fálki (“falcon”), Lithuanian pálšas (“pale”), Latvian bāls (“pale”), Latgalian buolgs (“pale”). More at fallow.

noun

  1. Any bird of the genus Falco, all of which are birds of prey.
  2. (falconry) A female such bird, a male being a tiercel.
  3. (historical) A light cannon used from the 15th to the 17th century; a falconet.

verb

  1. To hunt with a falcon or falcons.
    He rode astride while hawking; she falconed in the ladylike position of sidesaddle. 2003, Brenda Joyce, House of Dreams, page 175

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