Dictionary

cobswan en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈkɒbswɒn/

Etymology

From cob (“one who is eminent or great”) + swan.

Meanings

1. (obsolete, rare) A large male swan.
   • I'am not taken / With a Cob-Swan, or a high-mounting Bull / As fooliſh Leda and Europa were. 1611, Ben[jamin] Jonson, Catiline His Conspiracy, London: […] [William Stansby?] for Walter Burre, →OCLC, Act II:
   • [T]here's plenty hint / Your pinions have received of late a shock— / Out-soar them, cobswan of the silver flock! 1840 March, Robert Browning, “Book the Second”, in Sordello, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 83:

Forms