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Definition of peregrine - 5 dictionary results

per⋅e⋅grine

  [per-i-grin, -green, -grahyn]
Use peregrine in a Sentence
–adjective
1. foreign; alien; coming from abroad.
2. wandering, traveling, or migrating.
–noun
3. peregrine falcon.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME < L peregrīnus foreign, deriv. of peregrē abroad, lit., through (i.e., beyond the borders of) the field, equiv. to per- per- + -egr-, comb. form of ager field + -ē adv. suffix; see -ine 1

Related forms:
per⋅e⋅grin⋅i⋅ty  [per-i-grin-i-tee] , noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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per·e·grine   (pěr'ə-grĭn, -grēn')   
adj.  
  1. Foreign; alien.
  2. Roving or wandering; migratory.
n.  A peregrine falcon.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Medieval Latin peregrīnus, wandering, pilgrim, from Latin, foreigner, from pereger, being abroad : per-, through; see per- + ager, land; see agro- 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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Peregrine

Per"e*grine\, a. [L. peregrinus. See Pilgrim.] Foreign; not native; extrinsic or from without; exotic. [Spelt also pelegrine.] "Peregrine and preternatural heat." --Bacon.

Peregrine falcon (Zo["o]l.), a courageous and swift falcon (Falco peregrinus), remarkable for its wide distribution over all the continents. The adult plumage is dark bluish ash on the back, nearly black on the head and cheeks, white beneath, barred with black below the throat. Called also peregrine hawk, duck hawk, game hawk, and great-footed hawk.

Peregrine

Per"e*grine\, n. The peregrine falcon.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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peregrine 
"type of falcon," 1555, short for peregrine falcon (c.1386), from O.Fr. faulcon pelerin (c.1263), from M.L. falco peregrinus (see peregrination). Sense may have been a bird "caught in transit," as opposed to one taken from the nest.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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