Etymologically
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peregrine

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈpɛɹəɡɹin/, /ˈpɛɹəɡɹɪn/[1]

Etymology

As the name of the falcon it is short for peregrine falcon,[2][3] inherited from Middle English faucon peregryn,[4][2] from Old French faucon pelerin and Medieval Latin falcō peregrīnus,[5][2][3][6] from Latin peregrīnus (“foreign, coming from abroad”),[5][2][3][7] from peregrē (“abroad”), from per (“through, beyond”) and ager (“field, territory”),[5][3][7][8] from Proto-Indo-European *agro- (“field”).[3][5] It is a doublet of pilgrim.[7][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The peregrine falcon (c. 1386 in the OED; about 1395 in Barnhart; late 14th century in Etymonline).[4][2][3]

Semantic evolution

The falcon was so called because young birds were caught on their passage from the breeding place, rather than taken from the nest.[6][9] The adjective, “foreign, from abroad”, was borrowed separately in the 16th century (c. 1530),[4][2] and later meant “travelling, on a pilgrimage” (1655) and “having a tendency to wander” (1599 in Merriam-Webster).[4][10] In astrology a planet was peregrine when it had none of its essential dignities (1588).[4] The noun peregrine alone for the falcon dates from 1555.[2][3]

Timeline

  • c. 1386 – peregrine falcon.[4]
  • c. 1530 – adjective, foreign.[4][2]
  • 1555 – noun, the falcon.[2][3]
  • 1588 – in astrology.[4]
  • 1655 – travelling, on a pilgrimage.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A peregrine falcon, a large, swift falcon much used in falconry.
  2. (obsolete) A traveller or pilgrim; a foreigner resident in another country.

Adjective

  1. (archaic) Foreign; alien.
  2. Roving or wandering; migratory.
  • peregrinate
  • peregrination
  • pilgrim
  • falcon
  • agrarian

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  10. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster