war hawk

Meaning

Noun

• A proponent of war or military intrusiveness.
• An eagle.

Origin

• Late 18th c., often attributed to Virginian Congressman John Randolph of Roanoke, but no written evidence exists.{{cite-book
• |lang=en
• |year=2013
• |chapter=Origin of “War Hawks”
• |chapterurl=https://books.google.de/books?id=mtV2CQAAQBAJ&lpg=PT93&dq=John%20Randolph%20of%20Roanoke%20war%20hawk&pg=PT93#v=onepage&q=John%20Randolph%20of%20Roanoke%20war%20hawk&f=false
• |title=Chesapeake Legends and Lore from the War of 1812
• |isbn=9781625845245
• |author=Ralph E. Eshelman
• |author2=Scott S. Sheads
• |publisher=Arcadia Publishing
• |passage=While Randolph is credited with having coined the phrase, there were several instances of the usage of the term in prewar newspaper articles, none attributed to Rudolph.
• Popularized in debates concerning the War of 1812. Sense "eagle" probably a calque of Old English guþhafoc