Obs. [ad. med.L. alietus, or aliaetus, a. Gr. ἁλι-άετος sea-eagle; applied in Middle Ages in somewhat random fashion to other Falconidæ.] A bird of prey; in Wyclif put for the osprey or sea-eagle; in Her. a merlin or a sparrow-hawk.
1388. Wyclif, Lev. xi. 13. An egle, and a grippe, aliete and a kyte.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XII. iv. (1495), 412. Alietous and a fawcon is all one byrde.
1610. Gwillim, Displ. Her., III. xx. (1660), 223. The Aliet is a bird of little power; And little birds are all he eats and doth devour.
1783. Bailey, Alet, the true falcon of Peru, that never lets her prey escape.
