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Origin and history of hawk

hawk(n.)

c. 1300, hauk, earlier havek (c. 1200), from Old English hafoc (West Saxon), heafuc (Mercian), heafoc, "hawk," from Proto-Germanic *habukaz (source also of Old Norse haukr, Old Saxon habuc, Middle Dutch havik, Old High German habuh, German Habicht "hawk"), from PIE root *kap- "to grasp" (source also of Russian kobec "a kind of falcon"). Transferred sense of "militarist" attested from 1956, probably based on its opposite, dove.

hawk(v.1)

"to sell in the open, peddle," late 15c., back-formation from hawker "itinerant vendor" (c. 1400), agent noun from Middle Low German höken "to peddle, carry on the back, squat," from Proto-Germanic *huk-. Related: Hawked; hawking. Despite the etymological connection with stooping under a burden on one's back, a hawker is technically distinguished from a peddler by use of a horse and cart or a van.

hawk(v.2)

"to hunt with a hawk," mid-14c., from hawk (n.).

hawk(v.3)

"to clear one's throat," 1580s, imitative.

also from 1580s

Entries linking to hawk

dove(n.)

bird of the family Columbidae, early Middle English douve, 12c., probably from Old English dufe- (found only in compounds), from Proto-Germanic *dubon (source also of Old Saxon duba, Old Norse dufa, Swedish duva, Middle Dutch duve, Dutch duif, Old High German tuba, German Taube, Gothic -dubo), perhaps related to words for "dive," but the application is not clear unless it be somehow in reference to its flight.

Originally applied to all pigeons, now mostly restricted to the turtle dove. A symbol of gentleness, innocence, and tender affection from early Christian times, also of the Holy Spirit (as in Genesis viii.8-12), and of peace and deliverance from anxiety. A term of endearment since late 14c. Political meaning "person who advocates peace" attested by 1917, from the Christian dove of peace. Middle English also had dovesse "female dove" (early 15c.).

chicken hawk(n.)

type of hawk that is believed to prey on domestic fowl, 1802, American English. Figuratively, from the secondary senses of both words, "public person who advocates war but declined significant opportunity to serve in uniform during wartime," at least 1988, American English. From chicken (n.) + hawk (n.).

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Trends of hawk

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

havoc
early 15c., from the expression cry havoc "give the signal to pillage" (Anglo-French crier havok, late 14c.). Havok, the signal to soldiers to seize plunder, is from Old French havot "pillaging, looting" (in crier havot), which is related to haver "to seize, grasp," hef "hook," p
huckster
c. 1200, "petty merchant, peddler" (often contemptuous), from Middle Dutch hokester "peddler," from hoken "to peddle" (see hawk (v.1)) + agent suffix -ster (which was typically feminine in English, but not in Low German). Specific sense of "advertising salesman" is from 1946 nove
monger
Old English mangere "merchant, trader, broker," agent noun from mangian "to traffic, trade," from Proto-Germanic *mangojan (source also of Old Saxon mangon, Old Norse mangari "monger, higgler"), from Latin mango (genitive mangonis) "dealer, trader, slave-dealer," which is related
buzzard
c. 1300, "type of hawk not used in falconry," from Old French buisart "harrier, inferior hawk," from buson, buison, apparently...from Latin buteonem (nominative buteo) a kind of hawk ("but the process of formation is not evident" - OED), perhaps with...De Vaan says buteo is "Probably onomatopoeic, rendering the call of a hawk or buzzard."...
musket
"firearm for infantry" (later replaced by the rifle), 1580s, from French mousquette, also the name of a kind of sparrow-hawk...The hawk so called either for its size or because it looks speckled when in flight....mousquette had been borrowed earlier into Middle English (late 14c.; c. 1200 as a surname) in its literal sense of "sparrow-hawk...
reclaim
early 14c., reclaimen, "call back a hawk to the glove," from Old French reclamer "to call upon, invoke; claim; seduce; to...call back a hawk" (12c., Modern French réclamer) and directly from Latin reclamare "cry out against, contradict, protest..."Call out; call back a hawk," hence "make tame" (mid-15c.), "subdue, reduce to obedience, make amenable to control" (late...
lure
"something which allures or entices, an attraction" (a figurative use), originally the name of a device for recalling a hawk...The original lure was a bunch of feathers, arranged so as to resemble a bird, on a long cord, from which the hawk was fed...
falcon
mid-13c., faucon, from Old French faucon "falcon" (12c.), from Late Latin falconem (nominative falco) "falcon" (source also of Old Spanish falcon, Portuguese falcão, Italian falcone, Old High German falcho, German Falke, Dutch valk), probably from Latin falx (genitive falcis) "cu
parrot
bird of the family Psittacidae, widespread in the tropics and noted for beautiful plumage and a fleshy tongue, which gives it the ability to learn to articulate words and sentences, 1520s, a word of uncertain origin, perhaps from dialectal French perrot, from a variant of Pierre
hunt
Old English huntian "chase game" (transitive and intransitive), perhaps developed from hunta "hunter," and related to hentan "to seize," from Proto-Germanic *huntojan (source also of Gothic hinþan "to seize, capture," Old High German hunda "booty"), which is of uncertain origin.

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Dictionary entries near hawk
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