Noun: halcyon
| Singular | halcyon |
| Plural | halcyons |
Sample Sentences
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the Halcyon bird, or as some call it Alcedo or Kings-fisher, exceeds all mens conceit. […] Gods decree hath been, that all the watrie wildernesse should be quiet and made calme, without raine, wind, or tempest, during the time the Halcyon sitteth and bringeth forth her young-ones […] [1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:]
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Amidſt our Arms as quiet you ſhall be / As Halcyons Brooding on a Winter Sea. [1665 (first performance), John Dryden, The Indian Emperour, or, The Conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for H[enry] Herringman […], published 1667, →OCLC, Act IV, scene iv, page 51:]
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And, by the way, during those halcyon days (the halcyon was there, too, chattering above every creek, as he is all over the world) we fought another battle. [c. 1880, Ambrose Bierce, On a Mountain:]
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But novv hovv ſtands the vvind? / Into vvhat corner peeres my Halcions bill? [c. 1589–1590 (date written), Christopher Marlo[we], edited by Tho[mas] Heywood, The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Iew of Malta. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Nicholas Vavasour, […], published 1633, →OCLC, Act I, signature B2, recto:]
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Renege, affirm, and turn their halcyon beaks / With every gale and vary of their master [c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:]
Nouns inflected like halcyon
soldier's woundwort,
Nicosian,
whopper,
greypate,
tactile sign language,
chronotrope,
Rosie Lee,
dissentient,
photoinactivator,
sulphonediimine,
coastal waterfall,
residuary devise,
bituminization,
nitrosonaphthol,
smṛiti,
geosphere,
backscreen,
mensuralist,
flocculate,
flocculant, etc. (List truncated at 20 nouns)
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English Alceoun, from Latin halcyōn, alcyōn (“kingfisher”), from Ancient Greek ἀλκυών (alkuṓn). See: Latin Nouns '
halcyōn', Ancient Greek Nouns '
ἀλκυών'.