cuckold

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*h₂welh₁-“to be strong; to rule”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*waldaz
3. Frankish · derived from*wald“wielder, ruler, leader”
4. Frankish · derived from*-wald
5. Latin · derived fromcucūlus
6. Old French · derived from-auld
7. Old French · derived fromcucuault
8. Middle English · inherited fromcokolde
9. English todaycuckold

From Middle English cokolde, cokewold, cockewold, kukwald, kukeweld, from Old French cucuault; a compound of cucu (“cuckoo”) and Old French -auld. The word references the behavior of cuckoo birds where they lay their eggs in another bird’s nest. Cucu is either a directly derived onomatopoeic derivative of the cuckoo's call, or from Latin cucūlus. Latin cucūlus is a compound of onomatopoeic cucu (compare Late Latin cucus) and the diminutive suffix -ulus. Old French -auld is from Frankish *-wald (similar suffixes are used in some personal names within other Germanic languages as well; compare English Harold, for instance), a suffixal use of Frankish *wald (“wielder, ruler, leader”), from Proto-Germanic *waldaz (compare German Gewalt, from the related *waldą (“power, might”)), from *waldaną (“to rule”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- (“to be strong; to rule”). Appears in Middle English in noun form circa 1250 as cokewald. First known use of the verb form is 1589.

Words from the same roots