eyrie

eyrie
\ \ [16] Latin ager (source of English agriculture and related to English acre) meant ‘field’, or more broadly ‘piece of land’. In postclassical times this extended via ‘native land’ to ‘lair of a wild animal, particularly a bird of prey’, the meaning of its Old French descendant aire.
\ \ The Old French form was taken back into medieval Latin as aeria, the immediate source of the English word.
\ \ Cf.ACRE, AGRICULTURE

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Eyrie — may refer to:*The Eyrie, a fictional place in George R.R. Martin s book series, A Song of Ice and Fire *The Eyrie Vineyards, an American winery in Oregon *Glen Eyrie, a 67 room English Tudor style castle near Colorado Springs, USA *An eagle s… …   Wikipedia

  • Eyrie — Ey rie, Eyry Ey ry ([=a] r[y^] or [=e] r[y^]; 277), n.; pl. {Ey ries} ( r[i^]z). [See {Aerie}] The nest of a bird of prey or other large bird that builds in a lofty place; aerie. [1913 Webster] The eagle and the stork On cliffs and cedar tops… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • eyrie — see AERIE (Cf. aerie) …   Etymology dictionary

  • eyrie — meaning ‘nest of a bird of prey’, is the preferred spelling, not aerie, aery, or eyry. The word is probably derived via medieval Latin from an Old French word aire meaning ‘a lair of wild animals’ …   Modern English usage

  • eyrie — (US also aerie) ► NOUN ▪ a large nest of an eagle or other bird of prey, typically built high in a tree or on a cliff. ORIGIN probably from Old French aire, from Latin area level piece of ground , later nest of a bird of prey …   English terms dictionary

  • eyrie — or eyry [er′ē, ir′ē] n. pl. eyries AERIE …   English World dictionary

  • eyrie — [[t]ɪ͟əri, AM e̱ri[/t]] eyries (in AM, use aerie) 1) N COUNT: with supp If you refer to a place such as a house or a castle as an eyrie, you mean is it built high up and is difficult to reach. [LITERARY] I sit here marooned in my 48th floor eyrie …   English dictionary

  • eyrie — UK [ˈɪərɪ] / US [ˈerɪ] / US [ˈɪrɪ] noun [countable] Word forms eyrie : singular eyrie plural eyries 1) a place that is very high and difficult to reach 2) a nest built high up in trees or mountains by a large bird, especially an eagle …   English dictionary

  • Eyrie Bay — (coord|63|35|S|57|38|W|) is a bay, 2.5 miles (4.0 km) wide at its mouth and extending 3 miles (4.8 km) inland, lying north of Jade Point, Trinity Peninsula. So named by United Kingdom Antarctic Place Names Committee (UK APC) because of the… …   Wikipedia

  • eyrie — chiefly British variant of aerie …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • eyrie — /air ee, ear ee/, n. aerie. Also, eyry. * * * …   Universalium

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