† geirn.
Obsolete.
A vulture.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Falconiformes (falcons, etc.) > family Accipitridae (hawks, etc.) > [noun] > vultures or a vulture
gripea1250
vulturec1374
griffin1382
bawtere1486
grape?a1500
geir1565
gryph1570
carrion crow1699
aasvoel1821
carrion-vulture1829
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus Vultur, a rauenous birde called a voulter or geyre.
1587 J. Hooker tr. Giraldus Cambrensis Vaticinall Hist. Conquest Ireland ii. xviii. 43/1 in Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) II Argent three griphs or geires gules crowned gold: this griph or geire is a kind of an eagle.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. 353 The Vultures or Geires which flie from sweet ointments, are desirous yet of other odors and perfumes.
1615 Thomas's Dict. (ed. 10) Vultur, a ravenous birde called a vulter, a geyre or grappe.
1721–1800 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. Geir, a Vulture.
Compounds
geir-eagle n. (= German geier-adler), used in the Bible of 1611 to render Hebrew rāhām, supposed to be the Neophron percnopterus, a species of vulture.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Falconiformes (falcons, etc.) > family Accipitridae (hawks, etc.) > [noun] > vultures or a vulture > genus Neophron > species percnopterus (Egyptian vulture)
ossifrage1572
geir-eagle1611
Pharaoh's hen1757
Maltese vulture1781
Pharaoh's chicken1799
neophron1833
scavenger-vulture1885
1611 Bible (King James) Lev. xi. 18 The Swanne, and the Pellicane, and the Gier-eagle.
1611 Bible (King James) Deut. xiv. 17 The Geer-eagle . View more context for this quotation
1835 R. Browning Paracelsus i. 19 Ask the gier-eagle [1888 geier-eagle] why she stoops at once Into the vast and unexplored abyss!
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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n.1565