jastrzb

Jastrzb is a non-diacritic variant spelling of the Polish noun jastrząb, which designates a hawk or, more broadly, a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. In standard Polish, jastrząb refers to hawks, with the plural form jastrzębie. The form jastrzb lacks the diacritic on the ą and is generally encountered only in contexts where Polish letters are not available, such as older texts, databases, or simplified transcriptions. It is not used in contemporary Polish orthography except as a historical or typographical variant.

Etymology and usage: The word derives from a Slavic linguistic heritage associated with predatory birds. In everyday language, jastrząb serves as a general term for hawks rather than a species-specific designation. In scientific contexts, ornithologists typically use precise genus and species names (for example Accipiter or Buteo) to distinguish hawks from other raptors.

In toponymy and surnames, the element jastrz- appears in several Polish place names and family names, reflecting historical associations with hawks or hawking activity in a locality. Examples of related place names include Jastrzębie (with various derivations) and Jastrzebiec, among others. These names illustrate how the root of the word has permeated geographic and personal identifiers beyond its strict wildlife meaning.

Overall, jastrzb is primarily a orthographic variant of a term that is widely used in Polish to refer to hawks, though the diacritic-bearing form jastrząb remains standard in modern Polish.