tercel gentle

noun

A male falcon.

OriginLatin tertius →
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Meanings

nountercel gentle (plural tercel gentles or tercels gentle)

plural tercel gentles · plural tercels gentle

  1. A male falcon.

    Marry, out upon thee, foul kite, that would fain be a tercel gentle.

    1820, [Walter Scott], chapter 4, in The Abbot. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne & Co.] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for Archibald Constable and Company, and John Ballantyne, […], →OCLC
    2 more examples

    Like as a fearefull Dove, which through the raine / Of the wide ayre her way does cut amaine, / Having farre off espyde a Tassell gent, / Which after her his nimble winges doth straine, / Doubleth her hast for feare to bee for-hent [...].

    1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC

    O for a Falkners voice, / To lure this Tassell gentle backe againe [...].

    c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)

Origin

  1. Latingens“[Roman] clan”
  2. Latintertius“third”
  3. Englishtercel gentle

Ultimately from Latin tertius (“third”) (for complete etymology, see tercel) + gentle (in the archaic sense of "well-born, noble"), ultimately from Latin gens (“[Roman] clan”) (for complete etymology, see gentle)

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Italian terzuolo, terzolo
  • terzuolomale falcon
  • terzolomale falcon
Polish maisz, maiż
  • maiszmale falcon
  • maiżmale falcon
  • maizmale falcon
Cite this entry
APA

tercel gentle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tercel%20gentle

MLA

“tercel gentle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tercel%20gentle. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tercel gentle,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tercel%20gentle.

Source: tercel gentle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.