cuckold
pronunciation
How to pronounce cuckold in British English:
UK [ˈkʌkəʊld]
How to pronounce cuckold in American English:
US [ˈkʌkoʊld]
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- Noun:
- a man whose wife committed adultery
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- Verb:
- be sexually unfaithful to one's partner in marriage
Word Origin
- cuckold
- cuckold: [13] Cuckold is a derivative of cuckoo, the cuckoo’s invasion of other birds’ nests perhaps being viewed as analogous to the stealing of a wife’s affections by another man. It is not an original English coinage, but was borrowed from an unrecorded Anglo-Norman *cucuald, a variant of Old French cucuault, which in turn was formed from cucu ‘cuckoo’ and the pejorative suffix -ault.=> cuckoo
- cuckold (n.)
- mid-13c., kukewald, from Old French cucuault, from cocu (see cuckoo) + pejorative suffix -ault, of Germanic origin. So called from the female bird's alleged habit of changing mates, or her authentic habit of leaving eggs in another bird's nest. In Modern French the identity is more obvious: Coucou for the bird and cocu for the betrayed husband. German Hahnrei (13c.), from Low German, is of obscure origin. The second element seems to be connected to words for "ardent," and suggests perhaps "sexually aggressive hen," with transferal to humans, but Kluge suggests rather a connection to words for "capon" and "castrated." Related: Cuckoldry.
- cuckold (v.)
- 1580s, from cuckold (n.). Related: Cuckolded; cuckolding.
Example
- 1. That cuckold ! And l was almost finished !
- 2. They will say you wear cuckold 's horns .
- 3. The act of making someone a cuckold .
- 4. Your father 's a cuckold .
- 5. That you 're a part of this ? That I 'm a cuckold ? What ?