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fal⋅con

  [fawl-kuhn, fal-, faw-kuhn]
Use falcon in a Sentence
–noun
1. any of several birds of prey of the family Falconidae, esp. of the genus Falco, usually distinguished by long, pointed wings, a hooked beak with a toothlike notch on each side of the upper bill, and swift, agile flight, typically diving to seize prey: some falcon species are close to extinction.
2. Falconry.
a. the female gyrfalcon.
b. falcon-gentle.
c. any bird of prey trained for use in falconry. Compare tercel.
3. a small, light cannon in use from the 15th to the 17th century.
4. (initial capital letter) Military. a family of air-to-air guided missiles, some of them capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
Origin:
1200–50; ME fauco(u)n, falcon < AF, OF faucon < LL falcōn- (s. of falcō) hawk (said to be deriv. of falx, s. falc- sickle, referring to the sicklelike talons)

Related forms:
fal⋅co⋅nine  [fawl-kuh-nahyn, -nin, fal-, faw-kuh-] , adjective
fal⋅co⋅noid, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To falcon
fal·con   (fāl'kən, fôl'-, fô'kən)   
n.  
    1. Any of various birds of prey of the family Falconidae and especially of the genus Falco, having a short, curved beak and long, pointed, powerful wings adapted for swift flight.
    2. Any of several birds of these or related species, such as hawks, trained to hunt small game.
    3. A female bird of this type used in falconry.
  2. A small cannon in use from the 15th to the 17th century.

[Middle English, from Old French faucon, falcun, from Late Latin falcō, falcōn-; see pel-1 in Indo-European roots.]
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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Falcon

Fal"con\, n. [OE. faucon, faucoun, OF. faucon, falcon, ?. faucon, fr. LL. falco, perh. from L. falx, falcis, a sickle or scythe, and named from its curving talons. Cf. Falchion.]

1. (Zo["o]l.) (a) One of a family (Falconid[ae]) of raptorial birds, characterized by a short, hooked beak, strong claws, and powerful flight. (b) Any species of the genus Falco, distinguished by having a toothlike lobe on the upper mandible; especially, one of this genus trained to the pursuit of other birds, or game.

In the language of falconry, the female peregrine (Falco peregrinus) is exclusively called the falcon. --Yarrell.

2. (Gun.) An ancient form of cannon.

Chanting falcon. (Zo["o]l.) See under Chanting.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : falcon
Spanish: halcón,
German: der Falke,
Japanese: はやぶさ
More Translations »

falcon 
c.1250, from O.Fr. faucon, from L.L. falconem (nom. falco), probably from L. falx (gen. falcis) "sickle," usually said to be so called for the shape of its talons or beak, but possibly from the shape of its spread wings. The other theory is that falx is of Gmc. origin, which is supported by the antiquity of the word in Gmc. 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 around.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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