Etymograph

English

tiercel

Tiercel comes from Old French terçuel, from Latin tertius ‘third’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tri- ‘three, threefold’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tri-1‘three, threefold’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tritós1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tritios1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtertius2‘third’
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEtertiolus2diminutive of tertius
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400terçuel2
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tercel2
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1866tiercel2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin tertius
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English tiercel
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1866, George Alfred Lawrence, Evasit: “In this wise, the glossy bright-eyed kestrel, whom tiercels’…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tri-Wiktionary, Latin tertius‘three, threefold’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tritósWiktionary, Latin tertiusreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tritiosWiktionary, Latin tertiusreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtertiusWiktionary, English tiercel‘third’
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEtertiolusWiktionary, English tierceldiminutive of tertius
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400terçuelWiktionary, English tiercel
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tercelWiktionary, English tiercel
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1866tiercelWiktionary, English tiercel. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1866, George Alfred Lawrence, Evasit: “In this wise, the glossy bright-eyed kestrel, whom tiercels’…”

The story

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.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *tri- ‘three, threefold’

trial, triple, trillion, treble, trine, 11 more

through Latin tertius ‘third’

tertiary, 10 more

Today it means

noun A male hawk or falcon.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “tiercel”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin tertius. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *tri- / tiercel

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