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tiercel or tercel
Jul. 12th, 2016 07:57 amtiercel (American) or tercel (British) - n., a male falcon or hawk.
Whereas a female falcon is called a falcon -- nice to have that side be the unmarked default for once. A technical term from falconry, where distinguishing the sexes is important because male raptors are smaller by up to a third. First appears in this form in the 14th century, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French terçuel, from Vulgar Latin conjectural form *tertiōlus, diminutive of Latin tertius, third. There are two stories (both old) to explain this: that it comes from being that one third smaller than the female, and the other is a belief that one egg in three is male.
---L.
Whereas a female falcon is called a falcon -- nice to have that side be the unmarked default for once. A technical term from falconry, where distinguishing the sexes is important because male raptors are smaller by up to a third. First appears in this form in the 14th century, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French terçuel, from Vulgar Latin conjectural form *tertiōlus, diminutive of Latin tertius, third. There are two stories (both old) to explain this: that it comes from being that one third smaller than the female, and the other is a belief that one egg in three is male.
---L.
