saker

¹ American  

[sey-ker] / ˈseɪ kər /

noun

1. an Old World falcon, Falco cherrug, used in falconry.

---

saker ² American  

[sey-ker] / ˈseɪ kər /

noun

1. a light field gun that is smaller than a demiculverin and fires a shot weighing 6 pounds (4.5 kilograms) or less.

---

saker British  

/ ˈseɪkə /

noun

1. a large falcon, Falco cherrug, of E Europe and central Asia: used in falconry

---

Etymology

Origin of saker¹

1350–1400; Middle English sagre, sacre < Middle French sacre ≪ Arabic ṣaqr

Origin of saker²

First recorded in 1515–25; special use of saker ¹

Example Sentences

The saker bloodline, he said, “helps Bomber deal with the desert heat.”

From New York Times • Jan. 17, 2018

A host of other noneagle raptors fit into this tough-guy category, including Hungary’s saker falcon, Iceland’s gyrfalcon, and North Korea’s northern goshawk.

From Slate • Dec. 30, 2016

Marley, a saker falcon with gold-flecked wings, was blindfolded and perched on Du Toit’s arm.

From Slate • Apr. 10, 2015

He was born and bred in Dubai, even though saker falcons, recognized by their brown upperbellies and horizontal pursuit, usually breed around the northern Himalayas.

From Slate • Apr. 10, 2015

He has a saker, which according to report, when fired, serves him as a good or evil augury.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 - Volume 40 of 55 1690-1691 Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Close of the Nineteenth Century by Blair, Emma Helen