Windfucker

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A small European falcon known for its habit of hovering motionless in the air while searching for prey on the ground below
2. A tiny predatory bird that suspends itself in mid-air using rapid wing movements to scout for small animals and insects
3. A small falcon characterized by its distinctive hunting technique of remaining stationary aloft before diving to catch quarry

Etymology: Before it was a crude insult, this compound named a hawk. In northern English dialect, the windfucker was a species of hawk that hangs motionless in the air, a name that later gave way to "windhover," the term Gerard Manley Hopkins used in his poem. The verb in its first half once meant "to beat, strike" or "move quickly, penetrate." Cognates survive in Swedish dialect, where "fokka" means to thrust or push. Some scholars think the bird name is a misreading of "windsucker," a near-contemporary synonym, while others see it as a bowdlerized form of "windfucker." Modern vulgar uses may have nothing to do with the bird at all.