hawk that preys on small birds, c. 1400, replacing forms from Old English spearhafoc; see sparrow + hawk (n.).
Entries linking to sparrowhawk
sparrow n.
small brownish-gray bird (Passer domesticus), Old English spearwa, from Proto-Germanic *sparwan (source also of Old Norse spörr, Old High German sparo, German Sperling, Gothic sparwa), from PIE *spor-wo-, from root *sper- (3), forming names of small birds (source also of Cornish frau "crow;" Old Prussian spurglis "sparrow;" Greek spergoulos "small field bird," psar "starling"). In use, with qualifying words, of many small, sparrow-like birds. Sparrowfarts (1886) was Cheshire slang for "very early morning."
hawk n.
c. 1300, hauk, earlier havek (c. 1200), from Old English hafoc (West Saxon), heafuc (Mercian), heafoc, "hawk," from Proto-Germanic *habukaz (source also of Old Norse haukr, Old Saxon habuc, Middle Dutch havik, Old High German habuh, German Habicht "hawk"), from PIE root *kap- "to grasp" (source also of Russian kobec "a kind of falcon"). Transferred sense of "militarist" attested from 1956, probably based on its opposite, dove.