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Added 9 October 2026

hawk

/ˈhɔːk/ noun

In Latin: accipiter, astur Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about hawk at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Diurnal bird of prey typically having short rounded wings and a long tail.
An advocate of an aggressive policy on foreign relations.
A square board with a handle underneath; used by masons to hold or carry mortar.

verb

Sell or offer for sale from place to place.
Hunt with hawks.
the tribes like to hawk in the desert
Clear mucus or food from one's throat.
he cleared his throat before he started to speak

Origin

Inherited from Middle English hauk, hauke, hawke, havek, from Old English hafoc, from Proto-West Germanic *habuk, from Proto-Germanic *habukaz, controversially derived from Proto-Indo-European *kopuǵos, perhaps ultimately derived from *kap- (“seize”). Cognate with West Frisian hauk, German Low German Haavke, Dutch havik, German Habicht, Swedish hök, Danish høg, Norwegian Bokmål hauk, Norwegian Nynorsk hauk, Faroese heykur, Icelandic haukur, Finnish haukka, Estonian haugas; also Latin capys, capus (“bird of prey”), Albanian gabonjë, shkabë (“eagle”), Russian ко́бец (kóbec, “falcon”), Polish kobuz (“Eurasian Hobby”)).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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