cod

C3O1D2
UK/kɒd/Australia, British, Scotland, Southern, Standard/kɔd/US/kɑd/

noun

A sea fish of the family Gadidae which are sold as "cod", as haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus), and whiting (usually Merlangius merlangus).

Opposite
CommonScrabble 6

Meanings

cod1

nouncod (plural cod or cods)

plural cods

  1. Any of various types of sea fish or the meat from said fish.
    1. A sea fish of the family Gadidae which are sold as "cod", as haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus), and whiting (usually Merlangius merlangus).

      Synonyms: codfish

    2. A sea fish of the genus Gadus, inclusive of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus), and Greenland cod (Gadus ogac or Gadus macrocephalus ogac).

      Synonyms: codfish

    3. An Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua).

      Synonyms: codfish, common cod, milwell, Scotch cod

    4. informalusuallyOther not closely related fish which are similarly important to regional fisheries, as the hapuku and cultus cod.

      Synonyms: codfish

    5. informalusuallyOther not closely related fish which resemble the Atlantic cod, such as the rock cod (Lotella rhacina) and blue cod (Parapercis colias).

      Synonyms: codfish

cod2

nouncod (plural cods)

plural cods

  1. obsoleteA small bag or pouch.

    There is a Cod, or Bag, that groweth commonly in the Fields;

    1626, Francis Bacon, Sylua syluarum: or A naturall historie In ten centuries
    2 more examples

    The Bunt is to a Sail,[The Bunt of a Sail.] as the Cod to a Net, being the very Pouch, or Bag of the Sail; and therefore all Sails have this Bunt,

    1685, Nathaniel Boteler, Six dialogues about sea-services between an high-admiral and a captain at sea

    Perspective view of the gear, showing important parts: b, beam; bl. belly; br, brail; bt, bating; c cod end, or bag;

    1932, The Philippine Journal of Science - Volume 48, page 410
  2. UKobsoleteA husk or integument; a pod.

    its Cods are very crooked and ill ſhaped

    1707, J[ohn] Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land. […], London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for H[enry] Mortlock […], and J[onathan] Robinson […], →OCLC
    3 more examples

    And he wolde fayne have filled his bely with the coddes, that the swyne ate: and noo man gave hym.

    1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Luke

    and I remember the wooing of a peascod instead of her, from whom I tooke two cods, and giuing her them againe, said with weeping teares, weare these for my sake: wee that are true Louers, runne into strange capers; but as all is mortall in nature, so is all nature in loue, mortall in folly.

    1603, William Shakespeare, As You Like It

    1. Colutæa vesicaria vulgaris sylvestris. Ordinary Bastard Sene with bladders. This greater Bastard Sene groweth in time to be a tree of a reasonable greatnesse, the stem or trunck being of the bignesse of a mans arme or greater, covered with a blackish greene ragged barke, the wood whereof is harder then of an Elder, but with a pith in the middle of the branches which are divided many wayes, having divers winged leaves composed of many small round pointed or rather flat pointed leaves, set at severall distances, and somewhat like unto Licoris, or the Hatchet fitch, among which come forth yellow flowers like unto Broome flowers and as large; after which come thinne swelling cods, like unto thinne transparent bladders; wherein are conteined blacke seede set upon a middle ribbe within the bladders, which being alittle crushed betweene the fingers, will give a cracke like a bladder full of winde: the roote groweth great and wooddy, branching forth divers wayes.

    1640, John Parkinson, Theatrum Botanicum, London: Thomas Cotes, page 226
  3. The cocoon of a silkworm.

    In seven days, the cods being finished, they are gathered and laid inheaps till they have time to wind off the silk: But they first set apart the cods designed for propagation, upon a hurdle in a cool airy place.

    1750 December, “Account of the Manner of breeding Silk-worms, and procuring Silk”, in The London Magazine, Or, Gentleman's Monthly Intelligencer
    2 more examples

    As soon as it is arrived at the size and strength necessary for the beginning its cod, it makes its web; this is his first day's employment; on the second he forms his cod, and covers himself almost over with silk; the third day he is quite hid; and the following days employs himself in thickening and strengthening his cod; always working from one single end, which he never breaks himself; and which is so fine, and so long, that those who have nicely examin'd it affirm, that each cod contains silk enough to reach the length of six English miles.

    1735, John Barrow, Dictionarium polygraphicum

    The whole moth kind, as well as the silkworm, immediately before their transformation into the chrysalis state, cover their bodies with a cod or clew of silk , though the nature of the silk , and their mode of spinning, are very different.

    1846, William Smellie, The Philosophy of Natural History, page 163
  4. alsoarchaicin pluralThe scrotum.

    I went on one knee and thrust up and into his cod.

    1953, Francis Leary, The Swan and the Rose, page 22
    3 more examples

    that which we call castoreum […] are not the same to be termed testicles or stones; for these cods or follicles are found in both sexes, though somewhat more protuberant in the male.

    1646, Sir Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, III.4

    Then let the cutter take and hold the tip of his cod in his left hand, and with a sharp knife cut the top thereof an inch long clean away.

    1662, Leonard Mascall, The Government of Cattel. Divided Into Three Books, page 241

    Starmara made a muffled sound that might have been a bleat of alarm or might have merely been an expression of disgust, but revealed to her from-the-floor gaze was a leather cod of weary age and condition, below a long, continuous coil of coarse rope that had been wound round and round the merchant's hips, adding noticeably to his impressive girth—which shrank rapidly as the merchant tugged, hauled on the rope, then began a ponderous imitation of a dancing-lass undulating on a pedestal at a revel, shedding coils around his feet with a clumsiness that made Surth sigh and Starmara suddenly want to laugh.

    2011, Ed Greenwood, Elminster's Daughter
  5. ScotlandUKdialectalobsoleteA pillow or cushion.

    Item , ane long velvet cod or cusheon ;

    1889, Sir William Fraser, Memorials of the Earls of Haddington - Volume 2, page 299
    2 more examples

    Provost Maccalzean, with the silver keys in his hand, and the eldest bailie with the crimson-velvet cod, whereon they were to be delivered to her Majesty, following as fast as any member of a city corporation could be reasonably be expected to do.

    1823, John Galt, Ringan Gilhaize; or, The Covenanters, page 295

    Elizabeth Pitt, wife of Thomas Pitt of Haldon, clothier, Elizabeth Clerke of the same, spinster, and Jane Topliffe, wife of James Topliffe of the same, laborer, for stealing there on 1ˢᵗ Nov., 1640, a petticoat (parvacidam) value 4s., two children's coats value 2s., a feather bed cod value 2s., the property of Richard Bradley.

    1915 [1642 October 28], Yorkshire Archæological Society, edited by John Lister, West Riding Sessions Records, fol. 148

cod3

nouncod (plural cods)

plural cods

  1. A joke or an imitation.

    I assume it all could just be a cod.

  2. A stupid or foolish person.

    He's making a right cod of himself.

    Synonyms: alcatote, asshat, arsehole, asshole, bayard, berk, birdbrain, blither

adjectivecod (comparative more cod, superlative most cod)

comparative more cod · superlative most cod

  1. attributivein compoundsusuallyHaving the character of imitation; jocular.

    cod psychology

    5 more examples

    “Illegitimi non carborundum” is a well-known example of cod Latin.

    Dalton categorises Muse's latest composition as “cod-classical bombast”.

    […] the director's vision has devolved from cod Orwell to riffing off bad girl art comic books and generally feeble posing.

    2006 July, Kim Newman, “Ultraviolet”, in Sight and Sound, volume 16, page 78

    READERS of The Economist may not necessarily be familiar with the “World of Warcraft”. For those who are not, it is a cod-medieval online game in which goblins and trolls, warriors and wizards, and so on act out the fantasies of some 9m players who spend the rest of their lives in the alternative world of paper and pay-packets.

    2007 August 23, “Viral and virtual: A plague in a computer game may have lessons for the real world”, in The Economist

    Hynkel's anti-Semitic rants (consisting of cod-German punctuated by shouts of "Juden") are terrifying, but there is no conviction behind them, just a desperate need to distract the Tomainians from his economic failures.

    2021 February 5, Nicholas Barber, “The Great Dictator: The film that dared to laugh at Hitler”, in BBC

    Synonyms: faux, mock

  2. PolariBad.

    Hahahahaha! @AnnaJaneCasey Vada the homi ajax, with the naff riah and the cod lally drags. Ooooo she's camp...

    2016 September 18, Antony Cotton, Twitter
    2 more examples

    Sandy: Right, right, well I'll just open the wardrobe. Oh, here, look—his wardrobe. Ha! Julian: Ha! Oh what a naff lot! Sandy: It is a bit cod isn't it.

    1968 March 17, Kenneth Horne, Bona Rags (Round the Horne), season 4, spoken by Julian and Sandy (Hugh Paddick and Kenneth Williams)

    Will you take a varder at the cartz on the feely-omi in the naf strides: the one with the bona blue ogles polarying the omi-palone with a vogue on and a cod sheitel.

    1997, James Gardiner, Who's a Pretty Boy Then?, page 137

    Synonyms: abysmal, atrocious, awful, bad, chronic, coarse, corny, crap · Antonyms: bona

verbcod (third-person singular simple present cods, present participle codding, simple past and past participle codded)

present singular third person cods · participle present codding · participle past codded · past codded

  1. dialectalslangtransitiveTo attempt to deceive or confuse; to kid.

    "How are you, Mary?" "I thought your friend Mac was codding me that you would come."

    1955, J P Donleavy, The Ginger Man, published 1955 (France), page 339

    Synonyms: abuse, beglammer, counterfeit, deceive, catch, trap into, dissemble, dissimulate

  2. IrelandintransitiveslangTo joke; to kid.

    I'm only codding!

cod4

proper noun
  1. video gamesAlternative letter-case form of COD (“Call of Duty”).

COD5

proper noun

alternative CoD · alternative C.O.D.

  1. abbreviationacronymAcronym of Concise Oxford Dictionary.
  2. abbreviationacronymvideo gamesAcronym of Call of Duty.

    Let's go over to my house and play some COD.

nounCOD (countable and uncountable, plural CODs)

plural CODs · alternative CoD · alternative C.O.D.

  1. abbreviationinitialismuncountableInitialism of cash on delivery or collect on delivery.

    He ordered Chet's guitar course COD Makes A, E, workin' on B Digs C&W an' R&B An' me an' a chimpanzee agree That one day soon he'll be A celebrity.

    1969, “Gitarzan”, Ray Stevens, Bill Everette (lyrics), performed by Ray Stevens
    1 more example

    This development would probably be much facilitated were the Colony to adopt the C.O.D. (collect on delivery) system of the Cape and many other parts of the world.

    1901 May 10, The Agricultural Journal and Mining Record, volume 4, number 5, page 132
  2. abbreviationcountableinitialismInitialism of cause of death.
  3. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableInitialism of cerebro-ocular dysgenesis.
  4. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableInitialism of celebrity obsession disorder.
  5. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableInitialism of code of discipline.
  6. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableInitialism of committee on discipline.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA sea fish of the family Gadidae which are sold as "cod", as haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus), and whiting (usually Merlangius merlangus).

Similar

nounA sea fish of the genus Gadus, inclusive of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus), and Greenland cod (Gadus ogac or Gadus macrocephalus ogac).

Similar

nounAn Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua).

Similar
codfishcommon codmilwellScotch cod

nounOther not closely related fish which are similarly important to regional fisheries, as the hapuku and cultus cod.

Similar

nounOther not closely related fish which resemble the Atlantic cod, such as the rock cod (Lotella rhacina) and blue cod (Parapercis colias).

Similar

adjectiveHaving the character of imitation; jocular.

Similar

More synonyms by meaning

adverbcollecting the charges upon delivery

adjectivepayable by the recipient on delivery

Similar

nounthe vessel that contains the seeds of a plant (not the seeds themselves)

Broader

nounlean white flesh of important North Atlantic food fish; usually baked or poached

Similar
Broader
saltwater fish

nounmajor food fish of Arctic and cold-temperate waters

Similar
Broader
gadoidgadoid fish

verbharass with persistent criticism or carping

Broader

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

cod · noun

  1. Ancient Greekγάδος“cod”
  2. Latingadus
  3. Middle Englishcod
  4. Englishcod

From Middle English cod, codde, of uncertain origin: * Oldest English form cotfich as a surname in the 13th century; for more see cot (“chamber, cottage”). * A bag or pouch, related to its bloated shape; see Etymology 2 below. * From Latin gadus, from Ancient Greek γάδος (gádos, “cod”) with a possible pre-Greek or Semitic origin; for more see Atargatis, Cetus, and κῆτος (kêtos). Cognate with the genus name, translingual Gadus.

Full word history & related roots →

cod · noun

  1. Proto-Indo-European*gewt-“pouch, sack”
  2. Proto-Germanic*kuddô
  3. Proto-West Germanic*kuddō
  4. Old Englishcod
  5. Middle Englishcod
  6. Englishcod

From Middle English cod, codde, from Old English cod, codd (“bag, pouch”), from Proto-West Germanic *kuddō, from Proto-Germanic *kuddô, from Proto-Indo-European *gewt- (“pouch, sack”), from *gew- (“to bend, bow, arch, vault, curve”). Cognate with Scots cod, codd, coad, kod (“pillow, cushion”), German Low German Koden, Kon (“belly, paunch”), Middle Dutch codde (“scrotum”), Danish kodde (“testicle”), Swedish kudde (“cushion”), Faroese koddi (“pillow”), Icelandic koddi (“pillow”).

Full word history & related roots →

cod · noun, adjective, verb

Origin unknown. Attested in reference to a person (though not always a stupid or foolish person) from the end of the 17th century. The Oxford English Dictionary (1891) notes that a suggested link to codger is unlikely, as cod appears much earlier.

Full word history & related roots →

cod · proper noun

Abbreviation.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek καλλαρίας, γάδος
  • καλλαρίας (kallarías)any marine fish of the family Gadidae
  • γάδος (gádos)any marine fish of the family Gadidae
  • ὀνίσκος (onískos)any marine fish of the family Gadidae
Arabic غَادُس, قُدّ
  • غَادُس (ḡādus)any marine fish of the family Gadidae
  • قُدّ (qudd)any marine fish of the family Gadidae
  • مُورَة (mūra)any marine fish of the family Gadidae
  • بَقَلَة (baqala)any marine fish of the family Gadidae
Basque bakailao
  • bakailaoany marine fish of the family Gadidae
Bulgarian тре́ска, шушулка
  • тре́ска (tréska)any marine fish of the family Gadidae
  • шушулка (šušulka)husk or pod
  • подигравателен (podigravatelen)false, mock
Catalan bacallà
  • bacallàany marine fish of the family Gadidae
Chinese Mandarin 鱈魚 /鳕鱼
  • 鱈魚 /鳕鱼 (xuěyú)any marine fish of the family Gadidae
Czech treska
  • treskaany marine fish of the family Gadidae
Danish torsk
  • torskany marine fish of the family Gadidae
Dutch kabeljauw
  • kabeljauwany marine fish of the family Gadidae
Esperanto moruo
  • moruoany marine fish of the family Gadidae
Estonian tursk
  • turskany marine fish of the family Gadidae
Finnish turska, kuori
  • turskaany marine fish of the family Gadidae
  • kuorihusk or pod
  • teko-false, mock
French morue, cabillaud
  • morueany marine fish of the family Gadidae
  • cabillaudany marine fish of the family Gadidae
German Kabeljau, Dorsch
  • Kabeljauany marine fish of the family Gadidae
  • Dorschany marine fish of the family Gadidae
Greek μπακαλιάρος
  • μπακαλιάρος (bakaliáros)any marine fish of the family Gadidae
Hawaiian pakaliao
  • pakaliaoany marine fish of the family Gadidae
Hebrew שִׁבּוּט, בָּקָלָה
  • שִׁבּוּטany marine fish of the family Gadidae
  • בָּקָלָהany marine fish of the family Gadidae
  • זְאֵב יָםany marine fish of the family Gadidae
Hungarian tőkehal
  • tőkehalany marine fish of the family Gadidae
Icelandic þorskur
  • þorskurany marine fish of the family Gadidae
Irish trosc, bod donn
  • troscany marine fish of the family Gadidae
  • bod donnany marine fish of the family Gadidae
  • bod ruaany marine fish of the family Gadidae
Italian merluzzo
  • merluzzoany marine fish of the family Gadidae
Japanese 鱈
  • 鱈 (tara)any marine fish of the family Gadidae
Korean 대구
  • 대구 (daegu)any marine fish of the family Gadidae
Latvian menca
  • mencaany marine fish of the family Gadidae
Lithuanian menkė
  • menkėany marine fish of the family Gadidae
Norwegian torsk
  • torskany marine fish of the family Gadidae
Persian کیسه
  • کیسه (kise)husk or pod
Polish dorsz, osłonka
  • dorszany marine fish of the family Gadidae
  • osłonkahusk or pod
  • udawanyfalse, mock
Portuguese bacalhau
  • bacalhauany marine fish of the family Gadidae
Romanian cod
  • codany marine fish of the family Gadidae
Russian треска́
  • треска́ (treská)any marine fish of the family Gadidae
Scottish Gaelic trosg, bodach
  • trosgany marine fish of the family Gadidae
  • bodachany marine fish of the family Gadidae
  • pollachany marine fish of the family Gadidae
Slovak treska
  • treskaany marine fish of the family Gadidae
Spanish bacalao
  • bacalaoany marine fish of the family Gadidae
Swedish torsk
  • torskany marine fish of the family Gadidae
Tagalog bakalaw
  • bakalawany marine fish of the family Gadidae
Thai ค็อด
  • ค็อด (khot)any marine fish of the family Gadidae
Turkish morina
  • morinaany marine fish of the family Gadidae
Ukrainian тріска́
  • тріска́ (triská)any marine fish of the family Gadidae
Vietnamese cá tuyết
  • cá tuyếtany marine fish of the family Gadidae
Welsh penfras, còd
  • penfrasany marine fish of the family Gadidae
  • còdany marine fish of the family Gadidae
Yiddish שטאָקפֿיש, דאָרש
  • שטאָקפֿיש (shtokfish)any marine fish of the family Gadidae
  • דאָרש (dorsh)any marine fish of the family Gadidae

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with cod

All rhymes →

Sounds the same

cawed (cot–caught merger)cawed (cot–caught merger)cawed (cot–caught merger)cawed (cot–caught merger)cawed (cot–caught merger)cawed (cot–caught merger)

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

cod. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cod

MLA

“cod.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cod. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cod,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cod.

Source: cod on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.