Fraenkel1886 suggested Lat sacer ‘falcon, harrier’ as the etymon of Ar ṣaqr; but it is more likely that the word is of Pers origin (related to the idea of Pers šekār ‘hunting’). Perhaps also oTu suŋkur should be considered as a possible source.
▪ …
See DISC below.
▪ Fraenkel1886 rightly states that, given a conspicuous lack of cognates in other Sem languages, ṣaqr with all likelihood is a foreign word. (For genuine Sem bird names, cf., e.g., ↗nasr, ↗ġurāb, ↗ǧawzal). ▪ Calice1936#788 mentions Eg zkr ‘Sokar(is)’, the name of a falcon-shaped god of the dead in Memphis, often written with a falcon determinative, as a possible parallel (if not origin) of Ar ṣaqr, not without adding, however, that this juxtaposition is “lautlich nicht einwandfrei” (phonologically problematic, not sound). – For both phonological and geographical reasons, this etymology is indeed rather weak. ▪ Fraenkel1886 thinks ṣaqr is the oldest example of Ar borrowing of bird names from outside Sem. He suggests (late) Lat sacer ‘falcon, harrier’ as the etymon. According to the author, the var. †zaqr, mentioned by Ibn Durayd, certainly is the more original form (still preserving the voicedness of initial Lat {s}), which then developed into ṣaqr. See however following paragraph. – The meaning ‘falcon’ of the Lat word is secondary, transferred to the bird on account of its ‘holiness’. Lat here shows the same transfer (sacer ‘holy’, then also ‘the sacred one’), and for the same reason, as Grk hiérax ‘falcon, hawk’, which is from hierós ‘holy’. ▪ Given the fact that most of the Ar terminology of falconry (†bayzaraẗ) is clearly borrowed from Pers (cf. Ar ↗bāz, ↗bāšaq, ↗zurayq, ↗šāhīn), a Pers origin of ṣaqr, too, is more probable than a Lat one. Palmer1882 suggests a Pers šakrah [sic!] ‘falcon’ as the etymon, which I was unable to find in the dictionaries at hand; but Steingass1884 has, e.g., Pers šikara ‘rapacious birds trained to hunt’ – S.G. If this etymology is correct, then Ar ṣaqr ‘falcon’ is related to the idea of ‘prey, game; chase, hunting; plunder, booty [etc.]’ of Pers šikār.1 ▪ Perhaps, however, also Tu sungur ‘falcon, hawk’ (oTu suŋkur2
) should be considered as a possible source.