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Webster 1913 Edition
Gyrfalcon
Gyr′falˊcon
(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 Gyre
, Noun.
Falcon
.] (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 Accipiter
. [Written also
gerfalcon
, gierfalcon
, and jerfalcon
.] Webster 1828 Edition
Gyrfalcon
GYR'FALCON
,Noun.
A species of Falco, or hawk.
Definition 2024
gyrfalcon
gyrfalcon
English
a gyrfalcon
Alternative forms
Noun
gyrfalcon (plural gyrfalcons)
- (obsolete) Any large falcon, especially as used to fly at herons.
- Falco rusticolus, a large bird of prey that breeds on Arctic coasts and islands of North America, Europe and Asia.
- 2007, Michael Chabon, Gentlemen of the Road, Sceptre 2008, p. 132:
- [...] the usurper Buljan ordered that his sukkah be erected on the donjon's roof, with its [...] relative nearness to the stars, among which his sky-worshiping and uncircumcised ancestors still hunted with infallible gyrfalcons for celestial game.
- 2007, Michael Chabon, Gentlemen of the Road, Sceptre 2008, p. 132:
Translations
falcon — see falcon
Falco rusticolus
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