talon

noun
/ˈtælən/

Etymology

The surname derives from Old French talon (“heel”) as a nickname for a deformity, or for a swift runner; also diminutive of Talbot and Talleyrand. The modern given name is associated with English talon.

  1. derived from tālus — “ankle
  2. derived from *tālōnis
  3. derived from tālōnem
  4. derived from talon — “heel, spur
  5. inherited from talon

Definitions

  1. A sharp, hooked claw of a bird of prey or other predatory animal.

    • and now doth gaſtly death With greedie talients gripe my bleeding hart, And like a Harpye tires on my life.
    • It may be tried also whether birds may not have something done to them when they are young , whereby they may be made to have greater or longer bills , or greater and longer talons ?
  2. One of certain small prominences on the hind part of the face of an elephant's tooth.

  3. A kind of moulding, concave at the bottom and convex at the top

    A kind of moulding, concave at the bottom and convex at the top; an ogee. (When the concave part is at the top, it is called an inverted talon.)

  4. + 5 more definitions
    1. The shoulder of the bolt of a lock on which the key acts to shoot the bolt.

      • The locks were constructed with two or three levers, and sometimes with a common tumbler. The talon is the secret; for after locking the bolt out, the key is turned round again quietly to catch the nib and force the talon up
    2. The remaining stock of undealt cards.

    3. A document that could be detached and presented in exchange for a block of further…

      A document that could be detached and presented in exchange for a block of further coupons on a bond, when the original block had been used up.

    4. A surname transferred from the nickname.

    5. A male given name from English of modern usage.

      • 'Very well, I shall call you Talon from now on. What does the name mean, in the tongue of the small folk?' 'It is a claw, like that found on a hawk,' Talon said.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for talon. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA