eagle English · revision 7457

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1338|origins=la aquila}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈiːɡəl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English egle, [[bor|xno|egle]], Old French egle, aigle,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from Old Occitan [[m|pro|aigla]], from Latin [[m|la|aquila|t=eagle]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) probably feminine of aquilus, dark-coloured (see [[aquiline]]).^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) The native word was [[erne]].^(Etymonline) The spelling eagle developed in the 1600s.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The large bird of prey: before 1338, in Mannyng's ''Chronicle of England'';^(Barnhart 1988) about 1380 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The eagle as a Roman ensign is from before 1400, and as an armorial bearing, especially of the Holy Roman Empire, from about 1386.^(OED 1989) A $10 gold coin of the United States, minted from 1792 to 1933, was named in the 1786 resolution for a new monetary system.^(Etymonline) The insignia of a US colonel is from 1861.^(OED 1989) In golf, a score of two under par is from 1922 in the OED,^(OED 1989) by 1908 in Etymonline, explained as soaring higher than a [[birdie]].^(Etymonline) ''Eagle-eyed'' is from about 1600.^(Etymonline) The bald eagle is the emblem of the United States, and ''the Eagle has landed'' was said at the first moon landing in 1969.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1338 – egle, the bird.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1386 – in heraldry.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1600 – eagle-eyed.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1786 – the US coin.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1861 – a colonel's insignia.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1922 – in golf.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A large [[bird of prey]] with a hooked [[beak]], keen sight and broad wings for soaring flight.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A figure of an eagle used as an [[emblem]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(golf)'' A score of two strokes under [[par]] on a hole.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(golf)'' To play a hole in two strokes under par.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[double eagle]]

+ * [[half eagle]]

+ * [[legal eagle]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[eaglet]]

+ * [[aquiline]]

+ * [[erne]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Two unrelated dialect words recorded by the EDD are eagle, an icicle, in Warwickshire, and eagle, a small bag, in Norfolk.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}