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falcon

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falcon¹

  • /ˈfɔː(l)kən/ UK
  • /ˈfɒlkən/ UK
  • /ˈfælkən/ Atlantic Canada, US
  • /ˈfɑlkən/ Atlantic Canada, US
  • /ˈfælkən/ Australia
  • /ˈfoːlkən/ Australia
  • /ˈfɛlkən/ New Zealand
  • /ˈfoːlkən/ New Zealand

Rhymes with -ɔːkən, -ɔːlkən

Where it comes from

Inherited from Middle English faucoun, falcon, faulcon, from Old French falcun, from Late Latin falcō (“falcon”), of Germanic origin, probably via Frankish *falkō (“falcon, hawk”), from Proto-Germanic *falkô (“falcon”), from Proto-Indo-European *pol̑- (“pale”), from *pel- (“fallow”).

Cognates

Cognate with Old English *fealca, fealcen (“falcon”), Dutch valk (“falcon, hawk”), German Falke (“falcon, hawk”), Norwegian and Swedish falk (“falcon”), Icelandic fálki (“falcon”), French faucon (“falcon”), Italian falco (“falcon”), Spanish halcón (“falcon”), Portuguese falcão (“falcon”), Latin falco (“falcon”), Lithuanian pálšas (“pale”), Latvian bāls (“pale”), Latgalian buolgs (“pale”). More at fallow.

noun falcons · faulcon · faucon

  1. Any bird of the genus Falco, all of which are birds of prey.
  2. Any bird of prey of the subfamilies Falconinae and Herpetotherinae.
  3. A female such bird, a male being a tiercel.
  4. historical A light cannon used from the 15th to the 17th century.

verb falcons · falconing · falconed · faulcon · faucon

  1. To hunt with a falcon or falcons. He rode astride while hawking; she falconed in the ladylike position of sidesaddle.

Falcon²

Where it comes from

* From Spanish Falcón

* Calque from Amerindian languages, for the bird falcon.

proper noun Falcons

  1. countable, uncountable A surname from Spanish.
  2. countable, uncountable A surname, from Native Indigenous Amerindian languages.
  3. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in El Paso County, Colorado.
  4. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Magoffin County, Kentucky.
  5. countable, uncountable A town in Quitman County, Mississippi.
  6. countable, uncountable A town in Cumberland County and Sampson County, North Carolina.
  7. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in McNairy County, Tennessee.
  8. countable, uncountable A suburb of Mandurah, Western Australia.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: hawk, lanner, bird, nighthawk, hawkish, shark, basking, pilgrim, peregrine, jer, gyr, hudson, hawks, mewed, pilgrims, raptor

Translations

Every language

noun bird of the genus Falco

Españolhalcón, falcón (disused)
한국어매 mae, 송골매 songgolmae
日本語隼 hayabusa, ハヤブサ hayabusa
中文隼 sǔn
हिन्दीबाज़ bāz, बाज bāj, श्येन śyen
Portuguêsfalcão
Françaisfaucon
DeutschFalke
Italianofalco, falcone
Ελληνικάγεράκι geráki
Românășoim
Русскийсо́кол sókol
Tiếng Việtcắt
العربيةصَقْر ṣaqr, شَاهِين šāhīn
עבריתבז baz

verb to hunt with a falcon or falcons

DeutschFalknerei betreiben, Beizjagd betreiben

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Cite this
MLA

"falcon." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/falcon. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

falcon. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/falcon

Chicago

"falcon." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/falcon.

BibTeX
@misc{falcon_2026,
  title = {falcon},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/falcon},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}