gyrfalcon
(ˈdʒɜːˌfɔːlkə n, -ˌfɔːk(ə)n)
Forms: 4–9 jer-, 4, 8– gyr-, (4 gere-), 5–7 gier-, jar(re-, (5 gire-), 4– gerfalcon, etc. (See forms of falcon.)
[a. OF. gerfaucon, also gerfauc (mod.F. gerfaut) = Pr. girfalc-s, Sp., Pg. gerifalte, It. girfalco, girifalco, med.L. gero-, giro-, gire-, gyrofalco, MHG. gir-, gervalke (mod.Ger. gier-, geier-, gerfalke), Du. giervalk, ON. geirfálki.
A compound of the word which appears in Eng. as falcon; the origin of the first element is disputed, but the prevailing view both among Germanic and Romanic philologists now is that, while the recorded forms in the Teut. langs. are adopted from Fr., the ultimate source is the OHG. gîr vulture (MHG. gîr, mod.Ger. geier), f. the root *gī̆r in OHG. giri, gîri greedy. The suggestion that the med.L. gyrofalco is derived from gȳrus, gȳrāre, and refers to the ‘circling’ movements of the bird in the air, was made by Gerald de Barri (Giraldus Cambrensis) as early as 1188 (Top. Hib. ed. Brewer, i. xiii). A treatise on hunting by the Emperor Frederic II (d. 1250) contains a passage (ii. iv. 152, ed. 1596) in which the word is said to be either from the Gr. κύριος, lord, or from the Gr. ἱερός sacred. The latter suggestion was prob. based on the current term falco sacer denoting a kind of hawk; but according to modern scholars sacer in this use (= Fr., Sp., Pg. sacre n.) does not mean ‘sacred’, but is an adoption of the Arabic {cced}aqr. In the 16th c. hierofalco was adopted by ornithologists (Aldrovandus, Gesner) as the correct Latin form, probably from the observation that It. ger- sometimes represents L. hier- (as in gerarchia hierarchy); and it is still used as the scientific name of a sub-genus of the genus Falco. The view of some recent etymologists, that OF. gerfaucon represents a popular L. *hierofalco, and that the first element of this is from Gr. ἱέραξ hawk, is very improbable.]
In early use, a large falcon, esp. one used to fly at herons; now, any large falcon of the northern regions; esp. the white gyrfalcon of Iceland (Falco islandus).
| 13.. Guy Warw. (A.) 823 He schal bring to þe turment þat day..A ger-fauk þat is milke white. 1382 Wyclif Job xxxix. 13 The fether of a strucioun is lic to the fetheris of a ierfakoun and of a goshauk. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 190/2 Gerfaucun, herodius. 1450–70 Holland Howlat 319 Geir Falconnis, that gentilly in bewte haboundis. 1526 Skelton Magnyf. 1836 A, syr, thy iarfawcon and thou be hanged togyder. 1580 Sidney Arcadia (1622) 108 A Ierfaulcon was cast off after her. a 1682 Sir T. Browne Tracts 118 You must not expect to find your gier-falcon there. 1755 Smollett Quix. (1803) IV. 87 A saker or jerfalcon darts down upon a heron with a force proportioned to his rise. 1766 Pennant Zool. (1768) I. 134 The..Lanner, Sacre, and the Gyrfalcon are mentioned as natives, in our old game law. 1863 Baring-Gould Iceland 187 A white gerfalcon watches us from yon pile of stones, a bowshot off. 1867 Morris Jason x. 415 Scarped cliffs here and there, Where screamed the great ger-falcon. 1884 Girl's Own Paper 28 June 614/1 The noble gyr or jer falcon of Iceland, which in strength almost rivals the eagle itself. 1910 Encycl. Brit. X. 139/1 Next to the typical falcons comes a group known as the ‘great northern’ falcons... Of these the most remarkable is the gyrfalcon. 1964 Oxf. Bk. Birds 46/2 Gyr falcon. |
| attrib. 1891 C. E. Norton Dante's Hell iv. 20, I saw..Caesar in armor, with his gerfalcon eyes. |