BEAK (

See also:

• EARLY
• EARLY, JUBAL ANDERSON (1816-1894)

early forms

See also:

• BEKE, CHARLES TILSTONE (1800-1874)

beke and becke, from Fr. bec,

See also:

• LATE

late

See also:

• LAT

Lat. beccus, supposed to be a Gaulish word; the

See also:

• CELTIC

Celtic bec and beq, however, are taken from the

See also:

• ENGLISH

English)  , the horny bill of a bird, and so used of the horny ends of the mandibles of the octopus, the duck-billed platypus and other animals; hence the rostrum (q.v.) or ornamented prow of ancient war vessels . The term is also applied, in classic architecture, to the pendent fillet on the edge of the corona of a cornice, which serves as a drip, and prevents the rain from flowing inwards . The slang use of beak " for a magistrate or justice of the peace has not been satisfactorily explained . The earlier meaning, which lasted down to the beginning of the 19th century, was " watchman " or " constable." According to Slang and its Analogues (J . S . Farmer and W . E . Henley, 1890), the first example of its later use is in the name of " the Blind Beak," which was given to Henry Fielding's half-brother, Sir John Fielding (about 1750) . Thomas Harman, in his book on vagrants, Caveat or Warening for coinmen cursitors, Vulgarely called 'raga-bones, 1573, explains harmans beck as " counstable," harman being the word for the stocks . Attempts have been made to connect " beak" in this connexion with the Old English beag, a gold torque or collar, worn as a symbol of authority, but this could only be plausible on the assumption that " magistrate " was the earlier significance of the word .