Meanings
alternative Cocagne · alternative Cocaigne · alternative Cockayne
- mediaeval folkloreA land of plenty, luxury, and idleness.
Near-synonyms: lotus land, land of milk and honey
1 more example
In Cockaigne, the Land of Plenty, people never argued. Instead, they partied, they danced, they drank, and they slept around.
2017, Rutger Bregman, chapter 1, in Elizabeth Manton, transl., Utopia for Realists, Kindle edition, Bloomsbury Publishing, page 3Synonyms: land of plenty, lubberland, lotus land, land of milk and honey
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounA land of plenty, luxury, and idleness.
Origin
- Old Irishcucainn
- Proto-Germanic*kōkô
- Old Frenchcocagne
- EnglishCockaigne
From Old French cocagne, of obscure origin, but the many references to sweet delicacies in the 13th century poem that is the first record of the word suggest it may have come from a Germanic word for a cake, probably the ancestor of the modern German Kuchen. See also Proto-Germanic *kōkô. May also relate to or be influenced by Old Irish cucainn (“food ration, sweet pie”).
More words from Old French, Proto-Germanic, Old Irish
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan país de Cucanya, Xauxa
- país de Cucanyamythical land
- Xauxamythical land
Danish slaraffenland
- slaraffenlandmythical land
Dutch Luilekkerland
- Luilekkerlandmythical land
Finnish Laiskurila
- Laiskurilamythical land
French cocagne, pays de cocagne
- cocagnemythical land
- pays de cocagnemythical land
German Schlaraffenland
- Schlaraffenlandmythical land
Italian cuccagna, paese della cuccagna
- cuccagnamythical land
- paese della cuccagnamythical land
Norwegian Bokmål slaraffenland
- slaraffenlandmythical land
Polish Kukania
- Kukaniamythical land
Portuguese Cucanha
- Cucanhamythical land
Russian Кока́нь, Шлараффенла́нд
- Кока́нь (Kokánʹ)mythical land
- Шлараффенла́нд (Šlaraffenlánd)mythical land
Spanish país de Cucaña
- país de Cucañamythical land
Swedish schlaraffenland
- schlaraffenlandmythical land
Rhymes & wordplay
Sounds the same
Cite this entry
Cockaigne. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Cockaigne
“Cockaigne.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Cockaigne. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Cockaigne,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Cockaigne.
Source: Cockaigne on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.