Dictionary

cot-quean en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈkɒtkwiːn/

Etymology

From cot + quean; see cot (“cottage”).

Meanings

1. (derogatory, obsolete) A man who performs tasks that traditionally belong to a woman; an effeminate man.
   • Go, you cot-quean, go. Get you to bed! c. 1591–1595, William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, act 4, scene 4:
   • A stateswoman is as ridiculous a creature as a cot-quean. Each of the sexes should keep within its particular bounds, and content themselves to excel within their respective districts. 1716 April 30, Joseph Addison, No. 38, The Freeholder, quoted in The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, published 1804, page 378, volume 4:
2. (derogatory, obsolete) A female cuckold; a cuckquean.
   • What, shall a husband be afraid of his wife's face? Will she paint it so horribly? We are a king, cotquean, and we will reign in our pleasures, and we will cudgel thee to death if thou find fault with us. 1601, Ben Jonson, Poetaster, act 4, scene 4:

Forms

Hyponyms

househusband (the male equivalent of housewife)

Synonyms

sissy (effeminate man) · cot-betty (man who performs a woman's tasks) · mollycoddle · cuckquean (female cuckold) · betty (man who performs a woman's tasks) · henhussy (man who performs a woman's tasks) · cucquean · janegirl