falcone

Forms

falcone m (plural falconi)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian falcon, Old Italian falchone and Old Italian farcone.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin falcōnem (“falcon”), the accusative case of the word, while Italian falco continues the nominative.^[3][4][5][1] Nocentini explains the split by the reading of the longer form as an augmentative.^[4] The same word gave Old French faucon, French faucon, Occitan faucó, Spanish halcón and Portuguese falcão, and passed into Old High German falcho.^[4][6] The GDLI calls the word learned.^[7]

The Latin word first appears around 300, in Firmicus Maternus.^[6][8] DELI, Nocentini, Devoto–Oli and Sabatini–Coletti derive it from Latin falx (“sickle”), for the hooked beak or the curved talons.^{[3][4][9][10]} The ancients already made the link: Festus says falcons are named for their toes, curved inward like a sickle, but the GDLI suspects a folk etymology.^[7][4] Wiktionary thinks the word is probably Germanic, as Baist argued.^[1][6][8] Meyer-Lübke held it to be Latin, since it is missing from North Germanic, though a Germanic origin remained possible for him.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Libro of Uguccione da Lodi, from Cremona, at the beginning of the 13th century, for a large falcon trained for hunting.^[2] DELI dates it from Bonagiunta, in the 13th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Medieval falconry named many breeds: the falcone gentile, the laniere, hard to tame, the pellegrino, the montanino (the kestrel), the randione, and the sacro, whose name comes from Arabic.^[2] Brunetto Latini's Tesoro counts seven lineages of falcons, and Boccaccio tells of Federigo's falcon.^[11] Andare a falcone was to hunt with a falcon, occhi di falcone a sharp, lively gaze, and a brave man could be called a falcone.^[2]

From the 15th century falcone named a siege engine for battering walls; an artillery piece followed in the 16th century.^[12] French fauconneau (1534, Rabelais) and German Falkaune have the same history.^[12] In the 17th century the eagle ray was called falcone for its shape.^[12][7] Later uses include a post for mooring ropes in a slipway, a lifting pole on building sites, and in central Italy the buzzard.^[13][5]

Timeline

• c. 300 – Late Latin falcō first appears, in Firmicus Maternus.^[6]
• Early 13th century – Uguccione da Lodi uses falcone.^[2]
• 13th century – Bonagiunta uses the word.^[3]
• 15th century – Falcone names a siege engine.^[12]
• 16th century – Falcone names an artillery piece.^[12]
• 1534 – French fauconneau “small cannon” appears in Rabelais.^[12]
• 17th century – The eagle ray is called falcone.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A falcon, especially a large one trained for falconry.^[5][9][14]
2. (regional) The buzzard, in central Italy; also the peregrine falcon.^[5][13][15]
3. (historical) A siege engine like a battering ram; later, an artillery piece more powerful than the culverin.^[5][9][16]
4. (construction) A pole or crane arm fitted with pulleys, used to raise posts and metal structures upright.^[5][9][16]
5. (nautical, historical) A beam planted upright in a slipway to hold mooring or working ropes.^[5][9][13]

Word family

• falconiere
• falconeria
• falconetto
• falconiera
• falconeggiare
• falconello

Related words

• falco
• French faucon

Usage notes

Falcone and falco are often used as synonyms, but falcone is properly the larger falcons used in falconry.^[13][14]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c d e Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 5, 586
8. ^ a b Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
9. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
10. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c d e f g Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1586
13. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
14. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
16. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana