smelleken

A diminutive in -ken of smeerle (“small falcon, merlin”), a form attested until at least as late as the 17th century, which in turn derives from Middle Dutch smeerle, from Old Dutch *smiril, from Proto-West Germanic *smiril, from Proto-Germanic *smirilaz.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsmɛ.lə.kə(n)/

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smelleken n (plural smellekens)

1. merlin (Falco columbarius)

• van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “smelleken”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute

• smelleken on the Dutch Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^nl