falcon [ME] The original form of this word was faucun, borrowed directly from French. It was not until the 16th century with its interest in Latin origins that falcon began to be spelt with the ‘l’ in the middle, taken from the Late Latin falco, probably from falx ‘a sickle’ from the shape of the bird’s claws. The ‘l’ was silent, and remained so in some people’s speech into the 20th century. Infalconry [L16th] the place the birds were kept, particularly when moulting, was called the mews [LME] from Latin mutare ‘to change’ (see commute). The Royal Mews in London were converted into stables in the later Middle Ages, and mews came to be applied more generally to stables. It was then used for houses converted from stabling in the early 19th century and became a common street name.