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Webster 1913 Edition

(jẽr′fa̤ˊk’n)

Noun.

[OE.

gerfaucon

, OF.

gerfaucon

, LL.

gyrofalco

, perh. fr. L.

gyrus

circle +

falco

falcon, and named from its circling flight; or cf. E.

gier

-eagle. See

Noun.

(Zool.)

One of several species and varieties of large Arctic falcons, esp.

Falco rusticolus

and the white species

Falco Islandicus

, both of which are circumpolar. The black and the gray are varieties of the former. See Illust. of

[Written also

gerfalcon

gierfalcon

, and

jerfalcon

Noun.

[L. hierofalco, from Gr. sacred, and falco, and so named from the veneration of the Egyptians for hawks.

A species of Falco, or hawk.