falconry
Americannoun
-
the sport of hunting with falcons, hawks, eagles, etc.; hawking.
-
the art of training hawks to hunt.
noun
-
the art of keeping falcons and training them to return from flight to a lure or to hunt quarry
-
the sport of causing falcons to return from flight to their trainer and to hunt quarry under his or her direction
Etymology
Origin of falconry
Explanation
Falconry is the art of training birds of prey. It involves wearing a cool claw-proof glove and getting giant birds to hunt for you. A young King Arthur practices falconry in The Sword in the Stone. Historians believe that the sport of falconry may have started in ancient Mesopotamia. To practice falconry, you need a falcon that's trained to hunt small animals and return to its handler, or falconer. If a hawk or eagle is used instead of a falcon, the sport is still called falconry, but the handler is an austringer. The words falconry and falcon come from the Latin root falx, "curved blade," which can describe the shape of a falcon's talons, beak, or spread wings.
Vocabulary lists containing falconry
Medieval Europe - Introductory
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Chronicle of a Death Foretold
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Medieval Europe - Middle School
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
To protect 300,000 trucks a year from a persistent pigeon invasion, Ford Motor turned to an ancient practice: falconry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
They settled on falconry, an ancient practice of hunting smaller game with trained birds of prey.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026
Jess, on loan from a friend in Scotland with a falconry center, was accustomed to people, so she was featured in Mabel’s calmest moments.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2025
He said: "It's about 30% from farming now, 70% from weddings, falconry, helicopter rides, glamping, you name it."
From BBC ● May 27, 2025
When they could be alone together they would talk about falconry, although Hob was naturally a silent man.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
