sparrowhawk
nounEtymology From Middle English sparhauk, sperhauk, from Old English spearhafoc, spearhabuc (“sparrow-hawk”), from Proto-West Germanic *sparwahabuk, from Proto-Germanic *sparwahabukaz, equivalent to sparrow + hawk. Cognate with Danish spurvehøg (“sparrowhawk”), Swedish sparvhök (“sparrowhawk”), Icelandic sparrhaukur (“sparrowhawk”).
1
A Eurasian sparrowhawk, Accipiter nisus, a small, short-winged European hawk that preys on smaller birds.
3
Any of numerous other relatively small birds of Old World species of Accipiter, that prey on smaller birds or otherwise resemble A. nisus.
4
Alternative Alternative form of sparrow hawk; American kestrel, Falco sparverius, of similar size and habit.
- Derived terms
31 terms
African little sparrowhawk, American sparrowhawk, black sparrowhawk, chestnut-flanked sparrowhawk, Chinese sparrowhawk, collared sparrowhawk, Eurasian sparrowhawk, dwarf sparrowhawk, Frances’s sparrowhawk, great sparrowhawk, Hilgert's sparrowhawk, imitator sparrowhawk, Japanese sparrowhawk, Levant sparrowhawk, little sparrowhawk, Madagascan sparrowhawk, New Britain sparrowhawk, Nicobar sparrowhawk, northern sparrowhawk, Ovambo sparrowhawk, red-legged sparrowhawk, red-thighed sparrowhawk, rufous-breasted sparrowhawk, rufous-chested sparrowhawk, rufous-necked sparrowhawk, slaty-backed sparrowhawk, slaty-mantled sparrowhawk, small sparrowhawk, spot-tailed sparrowhawk, vinous-breasted sparrowhawk, western little sparrowhawk