goshawk
nounUK /ˈɡɒshɔːk/ · CA /ˈɡɑshɑk/
Etymology Inherited from Middle English goshauk, from Old English gōshafoc (“goose hawk”), from gōs (“goose”) and hafoc (“hawk”). Compare also Old Norse gáshaukr and Late Middle English gosling. The bird gets its name from the fact that the birds of the species are hawks that were alleged to prey on geese.
1
Any of several birds of prey, principally in the genus Accipiter.
- But you heed me no more than a goss-hawk minds a yellow yoldring.1820, [Walter Scott], chapter II, in The Abbot. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne & Co.] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for Archibald Constable and Company, and John Ballantyne, […], →OCLC, page 43:
- Derived terms
30 terms
African goshawk, black goshawk, black-mantled goshawk, brown goshawk, chanting goshawk, chestnut-shouldered goshawk, Chinese goshawk, crested goshawk, dark chanting goshawk, Doria's goshawk, eastern chanting goshawk, Fiji goshawk, Frances' goshawk, Gabar goshawk, grey-bellied goshawk, grey goshawk, grey-headed goshawk, Henst's goshawk, Meyer's goshawk, Moluccan goshawk, New Britain goshawk, northern goshawk, pale chanting goshawk, pied goshawk, red-chested goshawk, red goshawk, spot-tailed goshawk, Sulawesi goshawk, white-bellied goshawk, white goshawk