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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

cony en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /ˈkəwnɪj/ (British, Southern, Standard)
  • /-ni/ (Scotland)
  • /ˈkoːni/ (Wales) without the toe–tow merger
  • /ˈkɐʉni/ (New-Zealand)
  • /ˈkəʉni/ (Australia)
  • /ˈkone/ (Scotland)
  • /ˈkəʊni/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /-nɪ/ (Scotland)
  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ˈkoʊni/ (US)

Etymology

From Middle English cony, back formation from conies (plural), from Anglo-Norman conis, the plural of connil (“rabbit”), from Latin cunīculus, of unknown origin. Cognate to Catalan conill, Dutch konijn, German Kaninchen, Spanish conejo, and Portuguese coelho. The original pronunciation was /ˈkʌni/ (for the spelling, compare honey and money), but the similarity to cunt (and particularly homophony with cunny) led through taboo avoidance both to the word's displacement in the main by rabbit and bunny and to the spelling-pronunciation /ˈkəʊni/ becoming standard.

Meanings

  1. A rabbit, especially the European rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus (formerly known as Lepus cuniculus).
    • I were skynnes of conny, / That causeth I loke so donny. c. 1517 (date written; published c. 1545), John Skelton, “Here after Foloweth the Booke Called Elynour Rummynge. The Tunnyng of Elynour Rummyng per Skelton Laureat.”, in Alexander Dyce, editor, The Poetical Works of John Skelton: […], volume I, London: Thomas Rodd, […], published 1843, →OCLC, page 108, lines 399–400:
    • ORLANDO. Are you native of this place? / ROSALIND. As the cony that you see / dwell where she is kindled. c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], lines 344-346:
  2. (UK, dialectal) Rabbit fur.
  3. Locally for other rabbit-like or hyrax-like animals, such as the Cape hyrax (das, dassie) or the pika (Ochotona princeps, formerly Lagomys princeps).
  4. Locally for other rabbit-like or hyrax-like animals, such as the Cape hyrax (das, dassie) or the pika (Ochotona princeps, formerly Lagomys princeps). ▸ Used in the Old Testament as a translation of Hebrew שָׁפָן (shafán), thought to be the rock hyrax (Procavia capensis, syn. Hyrax syriacus).
  5. (obsolete) A simpleton; one who may be taken in by a cony-catcher.
    • It is a most simple animal; whence are derived our usual phrases of cony and cony catcher. 1599, Diet's Dry Dinner:
  6. An edible West Indian fish, a grouper given in different sources as: Epinephelus apua, the hind of Bermuda; nigger-fish, Epinephelus punctatus; Cephalopholis fulva.
  7. Any of certain members of family Epinephelidae of Atlantic groupers, such as mutton hamlets, graysby, Cuban coneys, and rooster hinds.
  8. (UK, dialectal) A burbot.
  9. (obsolete) A woman; a sweetheart.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
cunny alternative lexicographic
conies Number=Plur lexicographic
coney alternative lexicographic
connie alternative lexicographic

Deriveds

butter the cony · cony wool

Relateds

Coney Island

Synonyms

coney-fish (burbot) · bunny (rabbit) · coney (tropical West Atlantic groupers) · hare (rabbit)

Translations (12)

ru кролик (rabbit) · pl królik (rabbit) · ru жёлтая гаррупа (Epinephelus apua) · bg групър (Epinephelus apua) · tl dagang-taingahan (rabbit) · tl kuneho (rabbit) · cs králík (rabbit) · ca conill (rabbit) · ru гуативера (Epinephelus apua) · cs kanic ocasoskvrnný (Epinephelus apua) · tl buot (rabbit) · hu kinigli (rabbit)