tercelet
English
Alternative forms
- tiercelet
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English tercelet, from Old French tercelet; equivalent to tiercel + -et.
Noun
tercelet (plural tercelets)
- A male falcon, especially a peregrine falcon or goshawk; a tercel.
- 1999, Geoffrey Lester, Chaucer in Perspective: Middle English Essays, page 110:
- In the Squire's Tale this is expressed in avian terms when the tercelet flies off with a kite;
-
Anagrams
- electret
Middle English
Alternative forms
- tarcelet, tarcellet, tercellet, terselet, terslet
Etymology
Borrowed from Old French tercelet; equivalent to tercel + -et.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tɛrsəˈlɛt/, /ˈtɛrs(ə)lɛt/, /ˈtars(ə)lɛt/
Noun
tercelet (plural tercelettes)
- tercelet (male bird of prey)
- Synonym: tercel
- 1387–1400, [Geoffrey] Chaucer, “The Squiers Tale”, in The Tales of Caunt́burẏ (Hengwrt Chaucer; Peniarth Manuscript 392D), Aberystwyth, Ceredigion: National Library of Wales, published c. 1400–1410], OCLC 14061358, folio 135, recto:
- Tho dwelte a tercelet / me faſte by /That semed welle / of alle gentilleſſe
- There flew a tercelet close by me / which seemed full of graciousness.
Descendants
- English: tercelet
References
- “tercelet, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.