hawk English · revision 39501

+ English has three main words spelled ''hawk'': the bird of prey, inherited from Old English; the verb "to peddle", formed from [[hawker]]; and the verb "to clear the throat", which imitates the sound.^(Ayto 2005)^(AHD 2024)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ˈhɔːk/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ {{homograph|1|bird of prey}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Old English, Épinal Glossary|origins=gem-pro *habukaz}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The bird is [[inh|enm|hauk]], earlier [[m|enm|havek]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) [[inh|ang|hafoc]] (Mercian [[m|ang|heafuc]], earlier [[m|ang|habuc]]),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) from [[gem-pro|*habukaz]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Köbler Germ) It is cognate with [[ofs|havek]], [[osx|habuc]], [[nl|havik]], [[goh|habuh]], [[de|Habicht]], [[non|haukr]], [[sv|hök]] and [[da|høg]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Klein 1966)^(SOED 2002) Barnhart and Hoad compare [[pl|kobuz|t=a hawk or kite]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Etymonline, Klein and the AHD refer it to an Indo-European root meaning "to seize", [[ine-pro|*kap-]],^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)^(AHD 2024)^(Köbler Germ) and the OED, which calls this derivation the usual one, compares [[la|accipiter|t=hawk]] and [[m|la|capiō|t=to take]].^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A bird of prey used in falconry: Old English, in the Épinal Glossary.^(OED 2026) Barnhart dates the Old English form ''-habuc'' to about 700.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Johnson (1755) still defined the hawk as a bird of prey "used much anciently in sport to catch other birds".^(Johnson 1755) The verb, to hunt with a hawk, is recorded from 1340,^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) and in 1399 birds and insects were said to hawk when they hunted on the wing.^(OED 2026) From 1548 the name was applied to people who prey on others,^(OED 2026) and the thieves' dictionary of about 1698 has it for a card sharper.^(GDoS) The political sense, someone who favours war or a hard line, is dated to 1956 by Etymonline, which takes it as the opposite of [[dove]],^(Etymonline) and to 1962 by Barnhart and the Historical Thesaurus.^(Barnhart 1988)^(HTOED) Barnhart thinks it short for ''war hawk'', a term probably coined by Thomas Jefferson for those who favoured war with France,^(Barnhart 1988) and the Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins links the hawk–dove pair to the Cuban missile crisis of the early 1960s.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 700 – Old English ''-habuc''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1200 – ''havek''.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1300 – ''hauk''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1340 – the verb, to hunt with a hawk.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1399 – of birds and insects, to hunt on the wing.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1548 – a person who preys on others.^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1698 – a card sharper (cant).^(GDoS)

+ * 1956 – a supporter of warlike policies (Etymonline);^(Etymonline) 1962 (Barnhart).^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[diurnal]] [[bird of prey]] with short rounded wings and a long tail, such as the [[goshawk]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+ # ''(US, Canada)'' Loosely, any similar bird of prey, including the [[falcon|alt=falcons]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A person who favours [[war]] or aggressive policies, as opposed to a [[dove]].^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # A ruthless or greedy person who preys on others.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To hunt with trained hawks; practise [[falconry]].^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # Of a bird or insect, to hunt prey while flying.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[hawkish]]

+ * [[hawk-eyed]]

+ * [[goshawk]]

+ * [[sparrowhawk]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|peddle}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=back-formation|attested=late 15th century}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ To peddle is a back-formation from [[hawker]] (about 1400),^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026)^(Ayto 2005)^(SOED 2002) which is probably [[bor|gml|höker|t=peddler]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Ayto 2005) from [[m|gml|höken|t=to peddle, carry on the back, squat]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) It is related to [[dum|hoken|t=to peddle]], [[de|hocken|t=to squat]] and [[non|húka|t=to crouch]], from [[gem-pro|*huk-]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The modern spelling appeared before 1425.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Shorter Oxford dates the verb to the late 15th century,^(SOED 2002) as do Etymonline and the Oxford Dictionary of English,^(Etymonline)^(ODE 2010) while Barnhart finds it implied in ''hauking'', peddling from house to house, in 1390.^(Barnhart 1988) The OED's first quotation, an Act of Henry VIII of 1542, means to work as a hawker.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The transitive use, to carry goods about and cry them in the street, is first quoted from Swift in 1713,^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024) and its figurative use, of ideas or stories, from Swift too, before 1745.^(OED 2026) In 1862 Carlyle used it for travelling round an area with something to sell.^(OED 2026) Etymonline notes that, despite the word's link with stooping under a load, a hawker was strictly distinguished from a [[peddler]] by using a horse and cart or a van.^(Etymonline) In Northamptonshire dialect ''hawk'' also meant to carry something about laboriously and for no purpose.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1390 – ''hauking'', peddling.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1400 – ''hawker''.^(Etymonline)

+ * late 15th century – the verb.^(SOED 2002)

+ * 1542 – to work as a hawker.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1713 – to carry goods about for sale (Swift).^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1862 – to travel round an area selling (Carlyle).^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To offer goods for sale by calling out in the street or going from door to door; [[peddle]].^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+ # To try to sell or promote an idea or product to many people: ''hawking his business plan round the banks''.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[hawker]]

+

+ {{homograph|3|clear the throat}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=onomatopoeia|attested=1581, R. Mulcaster, Positions}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Clearing the throat is probably imitative of the sound.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(AHD 2024) Partridge and Weekley also call it echoic or imitative.^(Partridge 1966)^(Weekley 1921)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To bring something up from the throat, 1581, in Richard Mulcaster's ''Positions'';^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988) the intransitive use, to clear the throat noisily, follows in 1582.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The noun, a noisy clearing of the throat, is first recorded in 1604, in Middleton.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988) In Scotland and England the verb was in general dialect and colloquial use, in forms such as ''haak'', ''hauch'' and ''hooak'', and could also mean to cough or to spit.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1581 – to bring up phlegm (Mulcaster).^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1582 – to clear the throat noisily.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1604 – the noun (Middleton).^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To clear the throat noisily, as if to bring up [[phlegm]].^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+ # To bring up phlegm in this way, often with ''up''.^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A noisy clearing of the throat.^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[dove]]

+ * [[falcon]]

+ * [[huckster]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A fourth ''hawk'', a plasterer's square board with a handle underneath for holding mortar, is of unknown origin;^(Hoad 1986)^(Klein 1966)^(SOED 2002) Weekley thought it might be the bird's name, comparing [[fr|oiseau|t=bird]], used for a hod.^(Weekley 1921) In Cumberland, Westmorland and Northamptonshire dialect it also meant a bricklayer's hod, and a ''hawky'' or ''hawk-boy'' was the labourer who carried it.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}