of those forms remains obscure. Xavier Delamarre has proposed to derive Gaulish uolcos, alongside Latin falco ('falcon') and falx ('hook, sickle'), from a stem *ghwol-k-, itself based on Proto-Indo-European (PIE) *gwhel- ('bend, curve'). In this view, the animal may have been named after the shape of his beak, just like the Ancient Greek harpe designates both a sickle and a bird of prey.

Alternatively,