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eyas

[ahy-uh s]
noun
  1. a nestling, usually a hawk.
  2. Falconry. a young falcon or hawk taken from the nest for training.
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Also especially British, ey·ass.

Origin of eyas

1480–90; variant of nyas, nias (a nyas taken as an eyas) < Middle French niais nestling, derivative of Latin nīdus nest
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for eyas

Historical Examples

  • Are we to suppose the following lines of Plautus to have been delivered by an "eyas?"

    The Fairy Mythology

    Thomas Keightley

  • The old pointer is summoned; "The Princess," an eyas falcon in the second plumage, is hooded; and the walk is commenced.

  • Such is a sketch of the training in modern times of the eyas or young bird.

  • For my part, I will say freely, that I was wrong from beginning to end, except about the washing of the eyas's meat.

    The Abbot

    Sir Walter Scott

British Dictionary definitions for eyas

eyas

noun
  1. a nestling hawk or falcon, esp one reared for training in falconry
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Word Origin

C15: mistaken division of earlier a nyas, from Old French niais nestling, from Latin nīdus nest
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012