falcon
pronunciation
How to pronounce falcon in British English:
UK [ˈfɔ:lkən]
How to pronounce falcon in American English:
US [ˈfælkən]
-
- Noun:
- diurnal birds of prey having long pointed powerful wings adapted for swift flight
-
- Verb:
- hunt with falcons
Word Origin
- falcon
- falcon: [13] English acquired falcon via Old French faucon, but it is probably ultimately of Germanic origin. Related forms such as German falke and Dutch valk suggest a prehistoric Germanic *falkon, adopted into late Latin as falcō, and passing from there into Old French.
- falcon (n.)
- mid-13c., faucon, from Old French faucon "falcon" (12c.), from Late Latin falconem (nominative falco) "falcon" (source also of Old Spanish falcon, Portuguese falcão, Italian falcone, Old High German falcho, German Falke, Dutch valk), probably from Latin falx (genitive falcis) "curved blade, pruning hook, sickle, war-scythe" (see falcate); the bird said to be so called for the shape of its talons, legs, or beak, but also possibly from the shape of its spread wings. The other theory is that the Latin bird name falx is of Germanic origin and means "gray bird" (from the source of fallow (adj.)), which is supported by the antiquity of the word in Germanic but opposed by those who point out that falconry by all evidences was imported from the East, and the Germans got it from the Romans, not the other way round.
Example
- 1. One of the falcon 's nine engines shut down in mid-flight .
- 2. The first launch of falcon 9 could change the course of human space flight .
- 3. In time , spacex hopes to launch ten falcon heavy rockets a year .
- 4. This week , spacex successfully launched its falcon 9 rocket from cape canaveral in florida .
- 5. The dassault falcon is a european-made private passenger business jet that resembles a lear jet .