Dictionary

talon en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˈtælən/

Etymology

From Middle English talon, taloun, from Old French talon (“heel, spur”), from Medieval Latin tālōnem, from Proto-Romance *tālōnis, from Latin tālus (“ankle”).

Meanings

1. A sharp, hooked claw of a bird of prey or other predatory animal.
   • 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 ? 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “VIII. Century.”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:
   • and now doth gaſtly death With greedie talients gripe my bleeding hart, And like a Harpye tires on my life. c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene vii:
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; an ogee. (When the concave part is at the top, it is called an inverted talon.)
4. 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 1856, George Price, A Treatise on Fire and Thief-proof Depositories, and Locks:
5. The remaining stock of undealt cards.
6. (historical) 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.

Forms

Deriveds

talonless · talonlike · taloned

Relateds

Coed-talon

Synonyms

fang (grasping claw of a bird of prey etc.)

Translations (68)

grc ὄνυξ (hooked claw) · enm taloun (hooked claw) · it branca (hooked claw) · ota طرناق (hooked claw) · sv klo (hooked claw) · ko 발톱 (hooked claw) · sh pȃndža (hooked claw) · sk dráp (hooked claw) · cmn 爪 (hooked claw) · pl pazur (hooked claw) · uk кі́готь (hooked claw) · eo ungego (hooked claw) · fr griffe (hooked claw) · pt garra (hooked claw) · mr नख (hooked claw) · es garra (hooked claw) · hy ճիրան (hooked claw) · sh kȃndža (hooked claw) · pl szpon (hooked claw) · my လက်သည်း (hooked claw) · fr serre (hooked claw) · ota چنك (hooked claw) · cs dráp (hooked claw) · arz مخلب (hooked claw) · es garrón (hooked claw) · ja 爪 (hooked claw) · he טופר (hooked claw) · hy մագիլ (hooked claw) · hi पंजा (hooked claw) · hu karom (hooked claw) · ru ко́готь (hooked claw) · tr pençe (hooked claw) · th กรงเล็บ (hooked claw) · da klo (hooked claw) · nb klo (hooked claw) · hi नख (hooked claw) · bg но́кът (hooked claw) · it grinfia (hooked claw) · sa नख (hooked claw) · ta உகிர் (hooked claw) · be кіпцю́р (hooked claw) · lo ເລັບ (hooked claw) · ca urpa (hooked claw) · fi kynsi (hooked claw) · mk канџа (hooked claw) · ar مِخْلَب (hooked claw) · fa چنگ (hooked claw) · ga gríobh (hooked claw) · th เล็บ (hooked claw) · hi नाख़ून (hooked claw) · zza pençe (diq) (hooked claw) · la unguis (hooked claw) · nl klauw (hooked claw) · de Klaue (hooked claw) · ota قیناق (hooked claw) · be ко́каць (hooked claw) · hy ճանկ (hooked claw) · fa چنگال (hooked claw) · ota پنچه (hooked claw) · cmn 爪子 (hooked claw) · sh па̑нџа (hooked claw) · tg чанг (hooked claw) · nv áláshgaan (hooked claw) · sl krempelj (hooked claw) · gd ìne (hooked claw) · tg чангол (hooked claw) · sh ка̑нџа (hooked claw) · az pəncə (hooked claw)