Etymology tree
Proto-Germanic *keukô
Proto-Germanic *kukkaz
Proto-West Germanic *kokk
Old English cocc
Middle English cok
English cock
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.
it cazzo (expression of anger) · he כוס אמכ (expression of anger) · sk piča (expression of anger) · de Scheiße (expression of anger) · he כוסומו (expression of anger) · fi paska (expression of anger) · pl cholera (expression of anger) · id kontol (expression of anger) · vi địt (expression of anger)
Etymology tree
Proto-Germanic *keukô
Proto-Germanic *kukkaz
Proto-West Germanic *kokk
Old English cocc
Middle English cok
English cock
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.
Meanings
(countable, uncountable) A male bird, especially: ▸ A rooster: a male gallinaceous bird, especially a male domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus).
A forlyued cok leiþ eiren in his laste elde... and ȝif any venemous worme sittiþ on broode þerevppon in þe canyculer dayes, þerof is igendrid... a cocatrice. a. 1398, John Trevisa, transl. Bartholomeus Anglicus as De Proprietatibus Rerum (MS BL Add. 27944), Vol. I, p. 628
(countable, uncountable) A male bird, especially: ▸ A cock pigeon.
(countable, uncountable) A valve or tap for controlling flow in plumbing.
The liquor is discharged from the cock S into liquor cans V […], from which it is transferred to the sugar in the moulds. W represents one of the traps or stairs which communicate with respective floors of the sugarhouse. 1864, Robert Niccol, Essay on Sugar, and General Treatise on Sugar Refining:
(countable, uncountable) The hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism.
(colloquial, countable, uncountable, vulgar) A penis.
She doesn't see his cock, but she doesn't want to, what's the point, right? 1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, page 356:
My cock is much bigger than yours / My cock can walk right through the door / With a feeling so pure / It's got you screaming back for more 2005, System of a Down, “Cigaro”:
(countable, uncountable) The circle at the end of the rink.
(countable, uncountable) The state of being cocked; an upward turn, tilt or angle.
[…] in 1803; my eyes transmogrified […]; my nose had lost its pretty cock, and had grown elegantly hooked; and […] 1843, James Anthony Froude, John Tulloch, Fraser's Magazine, page 694:
[…] with a knowing cock of his eye to his next neighbour. Of this person little need be said. 1823 December 23 (indicated as 1824), [Walter Scott], St Ronan’s Well. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 32:
One day, however, by her self-important gait, the side-way turn of her head, and the cock of her eye, as she pried into one and another nook of the garden, […] 1851 April 9, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of the Seven Gables, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC:
(Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, countable, derogatory, slang, uncountable) A stupid, obnoxious or contemptible person.
(Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, derogatory, slang, uncountable) Nonsense; rubbish; a fraud.
"You used to talk an awful lot of cock." 1956, William Golding, Pincher Martin:
That Hitler's armies can't be beat is just a load of cock, / For Marshal Timoshenko's boys are pissing through von Bock […] 2013, M. J. Trow, Swearing Like A Trooper: Rude Slang of World War Two:
(UK, countable, obsolete, slang, uncountable) An apocryphal story supposedly describing a public event, once sold by street hawkers.
CURIOSITIES OF STREET LITERATURE: COMPRISING "COCKS," OR "CATCHPENNIES," A Large and Curious Assortment of STREET DROLLERIES, SQUIBS, HISTORIES, COMIC STORIES IN PROSE AND VERSE, […] 1886, Charles Hindley, The History of the Catnach Press, page xxiii:
This title ['Death Hunter'] refers not only to his vending accounts of all the murders that become topics of public conversation, but to his being a 'murderer' on his own account, as in the sale of 'cocks' mentioned incidentally in this narrative. If the truth be saleable , a running patterer prefers selling the truth […] quoted in 2018, Stephen Carver, The 19th Century Underworld: Crime, Controversy & Corruption (page 138)
The running patterer cares less than other street-sellers for bad weather, for if he "work" on a wet and gloomy evening, and if the work be "a cock," which is a fictitious statement or even a pretended fictitious statement, there is the less chance of any one detecting the ruse. 1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor:
(Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, as term of address, countable, especially, slang, uncountable) A man; a fellow.
“’Ullo, cock,” it said, amiably enough. “So you’ve come to, ’ave yer? ’Ang on a bit, an’ I’ll get you a cup o’ char.” 1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 128:
Now, in coming down here, I journeyed part of the way with a jolly old cock, who shed a tear with me every time the coach stopped […] 1848, Thomas Frost, Paul the Poacher, page 118:
All right, cock?
(countable, uncountable) A boastful tilt of one's head or hat.
(countable, informal, uncountable) Shuttlecock.
(countable, uncountable) A vane in the shape of a cock; a weathercock.
Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage! blow! / You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout / Till you have drenched our steeples, drowned the cocks! c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
(countable, dated, humorous, often, uncountable) A chief person; a leader or master.
(countable, obsolete, uncountable) A leading thing.
She is a widow, don, consider that; Has buried one was thought a Hercules, Two cubits taller, and a man that cut Three inches deeper in the say, than I; Consider that too : She may be cock o'twenty, nay, for aught know, she is immortal. 1833, James Shirley, The Dramatic Works and Poems of James Shirley, page 232:
The contrarye [side of a die] to this... was called Venus, or Cous, and yt was cocke, the beste that might be cast. 1542, Erasmus, translated by Nicholas Udall, Apophthegmata, page 164:
Tis sir Salomon's sword; cock of as many men as it hath been drawn against. Woe worth the man that comes in the way of so dead-doing a tool, […] 1672 (original), 1776 (printed), Andrew Marvell, The Works of Andrew Marvell, page 154
Sir Andrew is the cock of the club, since he left us. 1711 August 10 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “MONDAY, July 31, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 132; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume II, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:
(countable, uncountable) The crow of a cock, especially the first crow in the morning; cockcrow.
And here we are, half-way to Alcalá, between cocks and midnight. 1842 (published 1856), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Poems …, page 334
"I suppose, John," said Clara, as her brother entered the apartment," you are glad of a weaker cup this morning than those you were drinking last night - you were carousing till after the first cock." 1823 December 23 (indicated as 1824), [Walter Scott], St Ronan’s Well. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 62:
This is the foul fiend Flibbertigibbet: he begins at curfew, and walks till the first cock; c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]:
(countable, uncountable) A male fish, especially a salmon or trout.
As spawning time approaches – autumn or very early winter in most rivers, though in some late-run streams salmon may spawn as late as January or February – the hen's colouration becomes first a matt-pewter and then a drab dark brown-grey. The cock fish, in contrast, begins to gain some brighter colours. 2005, Roderick Sutterby, Malcolm Greenhalgh, “Life in the Nursery”, in Atlantic Salmon: An Illustrated Natural History, Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, →ISBN, page 21:
(countable, uncountable) The style or gnomon of a sundial.
Sun-dials, when the shadow of the Cock by passing over the lines of the hours[…]show the stay of the time sliding by. 1656, William Dugard, (Please provide the book title or journal name):
(countable, uncountable) The indicator of a balance.
The cock, or pointer, which makes a right angle with the beam, will stand upright when the weighing is accurate. 1833, John Holland, Treatise on the Manufactures in Metal:
(countable, uncountable) The bridge piece that affords a bearing for the pivot of a balance in a clock or watch.
A round small Silver Watch[…]with a steel Chain[…]a brass Cock, an endless Screw (Can we date this quote?), “London Gazette”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):
zza dik (diq) (any male bird) · xcl վարուժան (any male bird) · ja 雄の鳥 (any male bird) · eo kolombiĉo (male pigeon) · ro bărbătuș (any male bird) · kmr dîk (any male bird) · nl kip zonder kop (slang: stupid person) · fr mon vieux (informal: term of address) · pt inclinar (state of being cocked) · bg ударник (hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism) · da kok (any male bird) · it inclinazione (state of being cocked) · hu idióta (slang: stupid person) · myv атякш (any male bird) · de Tauber (male pigeon) · pt cão (hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism) · fr con (slang: stupid person) · tr horoz (any male bird) · fr gland (slang: stupid person) · it uccello (any male bird) · hu együgyű (slang: stupid person) · ml പൂവൻ (any male bird) · mi pīkaokao (any male bird) · hu buta (slang: stupid person) · fr mâle (any male bird) · nl haan (hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism) · udi дадал (any male bird) · ru куро́к (hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism) · de Täuber (male pigeon) · cs kohout (any male bird) · fi iskuvasara (hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism) · eu ar (any male bird) · eo virseksa birdo (any male bird) · io fusilhano (hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism) · fr camarade (informal: term of address) · fr triso (slang: stupid person) · pt pombo (male pigeon) · bg петле́ (hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism) · bg гъ́лъб (male pigeon) · hu kakas (hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism) · hu tökfej (slang: stupid person) · fr bouffonne (slang: stupid person) · fi hana (hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism) · pl kogut (any male bird) · he מַקּוֹשׁ (hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism) · fr imbécile (slang: stupid person) · nl mannetje (any male bird) · cs kohoutek (hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism) · id burung jantan (any male bird) · fi yläkeno (state of being cocked) · tk horaz (any male bird) · io hanulo (any male bird) · io kolombulo (male pigeon) · ta முட்டாள் (slang: stupid person) · ro cocoș (hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism) · inh боргӏал (any male bird) · da duerik (male pigeon) · udm атас (any male bird) · io hano (hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism) · hu kakas (any male bird) · da han (any male bird) · az xoruz (any male bird) · fo steggi (any male bird) · el λύκος (hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism) · it maschio (any male bird) · it compagno (informal: term of address) · pt boi (informal: term of address) · mk петле (hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism) · bg мъ́жка пти́ца (any male bird) · lv gailis (any male bird) · hy շնիկ (hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism) · ca mascle (any male bird) · sv tupp (any male bird) · la gallus (any male bird) · ce боргӏал (any male bird) · hu hülye (slang: stupid person) · eo virkolombo (male pigeon) · id jago (any male bird) · hu bolond (slang: stupid person) · mt għasfur (any male bird) · sh мужјак (any male bird) · is karlfugl (any male bird) · sv hane (hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism) · de Tauberich (male pigeon) · fr conne (slang: stupid person) · ca colom (male pigeon) · it cazzone (slang: stupid person) · cs kokot (slang: stupid person) · vo hipijun (male pigeon) · pt ave-macho (any male bird) · gd coileach (any male bird) · fi koiras (any male bird) · nb hane (hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism) · de Taubenmännchen (male pigeon) · el κόκορας (hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism) · oj naabese (any male bird) · hu ostoba (slang: stupid person) · io hano (any male bird) · fr bouffon (slang: stupid person) · hu üresfejű (slang: stupid person) · de Männchen (any male bird) · da hane (hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism) · fr abruti (slang: stupid person) · ru приду́рок (slang: stupid person) · nl doffer (male pigeon) · nn hane (hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism) · et isaslind (any male bird) · fr débile (slang: stupid person) · fr abrutie (slang: stupid person) · de Hahn (hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism) · fo hani (hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism) · eo maskla birdo (any male bird) · de Täuberich (male pigeon) · hu tökkelütött (slang: stupid person) · el αρσενικός φασιανός (any male bird) · ca clau (hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism) · ga maig (state of being cocked) · mi tīkaokao (any male bird) · ota خروس (any male bird) · es ave macho (any male bird) · nds-de Düffer (male pigeon) · af mannetjie (any male bird) · da fasankok (any male bird) · it cane (hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism) · om kormaa (any male bird) · ota خروس (hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism) · pt otário (slang: stupid person) · hu barom (slang: stupid person) · ga coileach (any male bird) · sh mužjak (any male bird) · fr chien (hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism) · ba тәте (hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism)
Etymology tree
Proto-Germanic *keukô
Proto-Germanic *kukkaz
Proto-West Germanic *kokk
Old English cocc
Middle English cok
English cock
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.
Meanings
(ambitransitive) To lift the cock of a firearm or crossbow; to prepare (a gun or crossbow) to be fired.
Cocked, fired, and missed his man. 1812, Lord Byron, The Waltz:
(intransitive) To be prepared to be triggered by having the cock lifted.
In the darkness, the gun cocked loudly.
(transitive) To erect; to turn up.
Dick would cock his nose in scorn. 1728, Jonathan Swift, A Dialogue Between Mad Mullinix and Timothy:
Our Lightfoot barks, and cocks his ears. 1720, John Gay, Thursday: Or, The Spell:
(Ireland, UK, slang, transitive) To copulate with; (by extension, as with fuck) to mess up, to damage, to destroy.
Foster's Lager TV commercial, 1980s
"Please tell me the way to Cockfosters." ... "Drink it warm, mate."
(transitive) To turn or twist something upwards or to one side; to lift or tilt (e.g. headwear) boastfully.
He cocked his hat jauntily.
(dated, intransitive) To turn (the eye) obliquely and partially close its lid, as an expression of derision or insinuation.
The Sentry, to this question, said nothing in reply; / But first he cocked his rifle, and then he cocked his eye. 1873, Mark Lemon, Henry Mayhew, Tom Taylor, Punch, volumes 64-65, page 36:
(dated, intransitive) To strut; to swagger; to look big, pert, or menacing.
(obsolete, transitive) To make a nestle-cock of, to pamper or spoil (a child).
bg щръквам (to erect; to turn up) · bg ки́лна (to turn upwards or to the side) · pt engatilhar (to lift the cock of a firearm) · fr niquer (to copulate (with)) · fi kallistaa (to turn upwards or to the side) · fr enculer (to copulate (with)) · hu baszik (to copulate (with)) · nds-de nöken (to copulate (with)) · it drizzare (to turn upwards or to the side) · bg ви́рвам (to erect; to turn up) · pl wznieść (to erect; to turn up) · id mengokang (to lift the cock of a firearm) · tl ikasa (to lift the cock of a firearm) · sv spänna (to lift the cock of a firearm) · bg накривя́вам (to turn upwards or to the side) · fr armer le chien (to lift the cock of a firearm) · hu izél (to copulate (with)) · ru взводи́ться (to be prepared to be triggered) · ru взводи́ть (to lift the cock of a firearm) · it alzare (to turn upwards or to the side) · hu közösül (to copulate (with)) · cs natáhnout kohoutek (to lift the cock of a firearm) · fr ériger (to erect; to turn up) · bg накривя́ (to turn upwards or to the side) · pl postawić (to erect; to turn up) · fr ken (to copulate (with)) · cs vztyčit (to erect; to turn up) · fi virittyä (to be prepared to be triggered) · hu szexel (to copulate (with)) · hu szeretkezik (to copulate (with)) · nl neuken (to copulate (with)) · tl buslugin (to lift the cock of a firearm) · bg повди́гна (to turn upwards or to the side) · bg ки́лвам (to turn upwards or to the side) · cs zvednout (to erect; to turn up) · ru заломить (to turn upwards or to the side) · nl (de haan) spannen (to lift the cock of a firearm) · hu kefél (to copulate (with)) · fr copuler (to copulate (with)) · fr poutrer (to copulate (with)) · hu felhúz (to lift the cock of a firearm) · fi virittää (to lift the cock of a firearm) · fr retourner (to turn upwards or to the side) · pl nadstawić (to erect; to turn up) · ru взвести́сь (to be prepared to be triggered) · it armare (to lift the cock of a firearm) · de spannen (to lift the cock of a firearm) · ru взвести́ (to lift the cock of a firearm) · is spenna (to lift the cock of a firearm) · fr faire l'amour (to copulate (with)) · hu kúr (to copulate (with)) · fr forniquer (to copulate (with)) · bg повди́гам (to turn upwards or to the side) · da spænde hanen (to lift the cock of a firearm) · fr baiser (to copulate (with)) · fr coïter (to copulate (with)) · fr sauter (to copulate (with)) · fr s’envoyer en l’air (to copulate (with)) · hu dug (to copulate (with))
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”).
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”).
Meanings
(transitive) To form into piles.
Under the cocked hay. 1579, Edmund Spenser, The Shepheardes Calender:
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.
Meanings
(Southern-US, qualifier:where it is now rare and dated; and African-American Vernacular; where it is still sometimes used; where it is now rare and dated; and African-American Vernacular; where it is still sometimes used) Vulva, vagina.
Born in the canebrake and you were suckled by a bear,
Jumped right through your mammy's cock and never touched a hair. c. 1920-1960, Rufus George Perryman (Speckled Red), quoted by Elijah Wald, The Dozens: A History of Rap's Mama
The dog come a-trottin' and the dog come a-lopin'
A purty little gal with her cock wide open. 1992, Vance Randolph, edited by Gershon Legman, Unprintable Ozark Folksongs and Folklore: Roll me in your arms, volume 1, Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, page 411:
My back is made of whalebone
And my cock is made of brass 1935 March 5, “Shave 'Em Dry, No. 2”, in Raunchy Business: Hot Nuts & Lollypops, performed by Lucille Bogan, published 1991, track 6:
I stuck my fist up in her cock, she didn't budge or move it. 1998 February 17, Scarface, Too Short, Tela, Devin the Dude, “Fuck Faces”, in My Homies, track 8:
She smelled like she was on her period and hadn't changed pads. On ah many occasions I heard men say her cock smelled through her clothing. 2010, Vildred C. Tucker-Dawson, A Journey Back in Time: My Story Book, →ISBN, page 42:
Yond tall anchoring bark [appears] / Diminished to her cock; her cock, a buoy / Almost too small for sight. c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene vi]:
(obsolete) A corruption of the word God, used in oaths.
By cock and pie. c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]: