kestrel
(ˈkɛstrɪl)
Forms: α. 6–7 castrell, 6–8 -el, 6–9 -ill, 7–8 -il, -eril; kastrell, -il(l, -al, -el. β. 6–7 kist-, 7 kest-, kaist-, keistrell, 6– kestrel, -il. γ. 7–9 coistrell, -il, coystrel, -il.
[ME. castrel, app. corresp. (through *cas'rel, *casserel) to OF. cresserelle, crécerelle, quercerelle, mod. Poitevin casserelle. The ulterior etymology is obscure, and it is difficult to reconcile the different OF. forms with each other or the It. equivalents. See Godef., Cotgr., and Rolland Faune popul. de la France II. 31. The rare coistrel is prob. due to confusion with coistrel, groom, varlet.]
1. A species of small hawk (Falco tinnunculus, or Tinnunculus alaudarius), also called stannel or windhover, remarkable for its habit of sustaining itself in the same place in the air with its head to the wind. The name is extended to about 15 foreign species of the restricted genus Tinnunculus.
| α 14.. Turn. Totenham, Feest ix, Ther was castrell in cambys, And capulls in cullys. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1586) 170 There is a kinde of Hauke, that naturally is terrible to other Haukes, and preserveth the Pigion: the common people call it Castrell. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. ii. ii. iv. (1651) 268 Some reclaime Ravens, Castrils, Pies, etc., and man them for their pleasures. 1726 Leoni tr. Alberti's Archit. I. 97/1 If in one corner..you enclose a Kastrel, it will secure your Dove-house from birds of prey. 1829 J. Hogg in Four C. Eng. Lett. (Camden) 421 The hills of Westmoreland that can nourish nothing better than a castrill or stone-chat! |
| β 1602 2nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. i. ii. 175 Those eggs which have ben filcht from the nest[s] of Crowes and Kestrells. 1608 Topsell Serpents (1658) 655 Those kind of Hawks which are called Kaistrels or Fleingals. 1766 Pennant Zool. (1768) I. 149 The kestril breeds in the hollows of trees. 1816 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. (1828) I. ix. 288 Among the Accipitres the kestril devours abundance of insects. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. II. iii. 348 As on unheard wings The kestrel hangs above the mouse. 1893 Newton Dict. Birds 479 Some of the islands of the Ethiopian Region have peculiar species of Kestrel, as the T. newtoni of Madagascar..and T. gracilis of the Seychelles;..the Kestrel of the Cape Verd Islands has been separated as T. neglectus. |
| γ a 1613 Overbury A Wife, etc. (1638) 183 Like a Coistrell he strives to fill himselfe with wind, and flies against it. 1687 Dryden Hind & P. iii. 1119. 1831 H. Neele Romance Hist. I. 21, I would stake my noblest falcon against the vilest coystril in England. |
b. fig., or in
fig. context, applied to persons, usually with contemptuous force.
| 1589 Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 64 Nay I thought no lesse..that you would proue such a kinde of kistrell. 1621 Fletcher Pilgrim i. i, But there is another in the wind—some castrell That hovers over her. 1820 Scott Monast. xix, Thou art thyself a kite, and kestrel to boot. |
2. attrib., as
kestrel bird,
kestrel breed,
kestrel kind.
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. iii. 4 In his kestrell kynd A pleasing vaine of glory he did fynd. 1596 Nashe Saffron Walden K ij, One of these kistrell birds, called a wind-sucker. 1831 H. Neele Romance Hist. I. 194 A bird of such a coystril breed. |