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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
I thought this explanation in today's Word was so cool!
[From Middle English, from Middle French terçuel, from Vulgar Latin tertiolus, diminutive of Latin tertius (third). Ultimately from Indo-European root trei- (three) that's also the source of such words as three, testify (to be the third person), triskaidekaphobia (fear of the number 13).]
Why the sense of third in the word for a male hawk? It's either from the belief that the third egg produced a male, or from the fact that the male of hawk is one-third smaller than the female.
Hawks have two groups they are divided into; also interesting words: buteo (essentially, a soarer) and accipiter (kind of like the...uh oh, P 38's(?) of WWII--designed for high-speed maneuverability. In the case of the hawks, following prey (smaller birds) through heavily-wooded areas.
Hawks, thank heavens, have adapted fairly well to cities. One day this summer I watched a broad-wing chase a sparrow from a tree to a bush in my friend's neighbor's yard; then the sparrow fled to shelter underneath the car parked on the street...and the hawk went right under after it!
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 176
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Joined: Oct 2004
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Thank you for the etymology and extra information, Jackie! Interesting!
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
"Accipitor
Genus of 'true hawks', consisting of 50 species of birds of prey. They belong to the family Accipitridae, which includes eagles, hawks, and Old World vultures, in the order Falconiformes. They appear by day and by night, and are recognizable by their hooked and powerful beaks and talons."
"Etymology: New Latin, genus name, from Latin, hawk
: any of a genus (Accipiter) of medium-sized forest-inhabiting hawks that have short broad wings and a long tail and a characteristic flight pattern of several quick flaps and a glide
- ac·cip·i·trine" MW
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