ACCIP'ITER, noun [Latin ad and capio, to seize.] 1. A name given to a fish, the milvus or lucerna, a species of Trigla. 2. In ornithology, the name of the order of rapacious fowls. The accipiters have a hooked bill, the superior mandible, near the base, being extended on each side beyond the inferior. The genera are the vultur, the falco, or hawk, and the strix, or owl.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI