Etymology

cock

C3O1C3K5

Today it means: A rooster: a male gallinaceous bird, especially a male domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus). Full definition →

First used since at least the 1920s; less common after the 1960sMiddle English cok ← Old English cocc ← Proto-West Germanic *kokk
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cock · noun, verb, interjection1

  1. Proto-Germanic*keukô
  2. Proto-Germanic*kukkaz
  3. Proto-West Germanic*kokk
  4. Old Englishcocc
  5. Middle Englishcok
  6. English todaycock

From Middle English cok, from Old English coc, cocc (“cock, male bird”), from Proto-West Germanic *kokk, from Proto-Germanic *kukkaz (“cock”), probably of onomatopoeic origin. Cognate with Middle Dutch cocke (“cock, male bird”) and Old Norse kokkr ("cock"; whence Danish kok (“cock”), dialectal Swedish kokk (“cock”)). Reinforced by Old French coc, from the same origin. The sense "penis" is attested since at least the 1610s, with the compound pillicock (“penis”) attested since 1325.

cock · noun, verb2

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*gew-“to bend, curve, arch”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*kukkaz“mass, bulge, swelling”
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*kokk
  4. Old English · inherited from*cocc“heap, pile”
  5. Middle English · inherited fromcokke
  6. English todaycock

From Middle English cokke, cock, cok, from Old English *cocc (“heap, pile”, attested in place names), from Proto-West Germanic *kokk, from Proto-Germanic *kukkaz (“mass, bulge, swelling”), from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to bend, curve, arch”). Cognate with dialectal German Kocke (“heap of hay, dunghill”), Norwegian kok (“heap, lump”), Swedish koka (“a lump of earth”), Norman coque (“small haystack”), Middle Low German kogge (“wide, rounded ship”), Dutch kogel (“ball”), German Kugel (“ball, globe”).

cock · noun3

Uncertain. Some authors speculate it derives from cockle, a yonic fertility symbol, others suggested it entered Southern US vernacular during the period of French rule (of Louisiana) from Cajun French coquille (“shell”) (itself the source of cockle), which in 18th and 19th century slang meant the vulva.

cock · noun4

  1. Old French · derived fromcoque“a type of small boat”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromcok
  3. English todaycock

from Middle English cok, from Old French coque (“a type of small boat”), from child-talk coco ('egg').

Cock · proper noun5

* As a Dutch and West Flemish surname, from de Cock, related to the noun cook. * As an English surname, spelling variant of Cox.

Words from the same roots

Middle Englishcok all →

Cogbill

Old Englishcoc all →

spitchcock

Middle Englishcokke all →

cocklecoxcomb

Old English*cocc all →

CockburncockleCockcroft

Proto-Indo-European*gew- all →

cupcopenvirongirogyrationkibblekilegyrecowercoifcudgelcoppegyratecoombcuttlebone

First known use, by meaning

  • since at least the 1920s; less common after the 1960s Vulva, vagina.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.