tiercel

The story

1. Latin · derived fromtertius“third”
2. Late Latin · derived fromtertiolus
3. Old French · derived fromterçuel
4. Middle English · inherited fromtercel
5. English todaytiercel

From Middle English tercel, from Old French terçuel, from Late Latin tertiolus, the diminutive of Latin tertius (“third”). Sources disagree whether the connection is that the males of most species of birds of prey favoured in falconry are smaller than the females by about a third, or whether it refers to the supposition that only one egg in three yields a male.

Words from the same roots