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Re: Meaning of Marlon?
I'm not 100% sure since it's Old French, but I'm French and I've never heard of a word like "marlon" or "marle", -on being a diminutive...
Oh wait, there's the word "merle", but it doesn't mean hawk or falcon, but blackbird... And it's French, not Old French...
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I remember there was a guy on this board claiming tjat the FRrench word "merle" could also mean "falcon". This is what he wrote:"Lumping up the multiple sources, a 'merlin' is defined as:
A small falcon of northern European & American regions. It has predominantly dark plumage and a black-striped tail. The scientific names are 'falco columbarius' (pigeon hawk), 'falco lithofalco' (stone hawk?) and 'falco salon/aesalon' (salt/copper/hall/room halk? [purely guesswork]). The lumped derivations are as follows:
Middle English 'merlin' > Old English 'merlion' > Anglo-Norman 'merilun' > French '[é]merillon' > Old French 'esmerillon' > Old French 'esmeril' > Old High German 'smirl' / German 'schmerl' > Latin 'merula' meaning 'blackbird.' "But he was referring MERLIN, not to MARLON.Andy ;—)
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Maybe "merle" could mean both "blackbird" and "falcon" (although it would be strange since these birds are really different) in Old French. I dunno.
The only word used in French nowadays is "merle" meaning "blackbird" though. Not "merlin" (who is used by old people to say "wizard") or marlon.
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