falconet
noun/ˈfæl.kə.nɛt/
Etymology From falcon + -et.
1
A small or young falcon.
2
Any of various small, tropical Asian falcons of the genus Microhierax found in Southeast Asia.
3
Government, Military, Politics, War Historical A light cannon developed in the late 15th century and decorated with an image of a falcon.
- The besieged made a gallant resistance, and night and day kept up a firing of double-harquebuses, and other kinds of artillery; and it happened that one day Falkenberg's chin was shot away by a ball from a falconet, and three days after he died of the wound, in great agony.1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume II, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 59:
- Derived terms
- black-thighed falconet, Microhierax fringillarius, collared falconet, Microhierax caerulescens, Philippine falconet, Microhierax erythrogenys, pied falconet, Microhierax melanoleucos, white-fronted falconet, Microhierax latifrons