Dictionary

cuckold en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈkʌ.kəld/ (UK)
• /ˈkʌ.kəʊld/ (UK)
• /ˈkʌ.koʊld/ (US)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈkʌ.kəld/ (US)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From Middle English cokolde, cokewold, cockewold, kukwald, kukeweld, from Old French cucuault; a compound of cucu (“cuckoo”) and Old French -auld. The word references the behavior of cuckoo birds where they lay their eggs in another bird’s nest. Cucu is either a directly derived onomatopoeic derivative of the cuckoo's call, or from Latin cucūlus. Latin cucūlus is a compound of onomatopoeic cucu (compare Late Latin cucus) and the diminutive suffix -ulus. Old French -auld is from Frankish *-wald (similar suffixes are used in some personal names within other Germanic languages as well; compare English Harold, for instance), a suffixal use of Frankish *wald (“wielder, ruler, leader”), from Proto-Germanic *waldaz (compare German Gewalt, from the related *waldą (“power, might”)), from *waldaną (“to rule”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- (“to be strong; to rule”). Appears in Middle English in noun form circa 1250 as cokewald. First known use of the verb form is 1589.

Meanings

1. A man married to an adulterous spouse, especially when he is unaware or unaccepting of the fact.
   • Nothing captured the alt-right mentality better than cuckservative, with its taunt that moderation is unmanly and certain conservative males are cuckolds. 2017 December 22, Dominic Green, “Are You Sufficiently Woke?”, in The Weekly Standard, Washington, retrieved 10 Feb 2022:
   • In the early English drama, no play better approximates Ovid's contemptuous portrait of the willing cuckold than does Thomas Middleton's Chaste Maid in Cheapside (ca. 1612). 2001, Goran V. Stanivukovic, Ovid and the Renaissance Body, page 178:
   • You see, it happened that two lieutenantesses were fighting, because their husbands had made cuckolds of them ... 1994, An Anthology of Russian Women’s Writing, 1777-1992, page 183:
   • If I never marry, I shall never be a cuckold. 1546, François Rabelais, The Third Book, Chapter 36
2. A man who is attracted to or aroused by the sexual infidelity of a partner.
3. A West Indian plectognath fish, Rhinesomus triqueter.
4. The scrawled cowfish, Acanthostracion quadricornis and allied species.
5. Synonym of fringed filefish.

Forms

Coordinates

cuckquean · cot-quean · cuckquean · cucquean

Deriveds

cuckquean · cuckoldry · cuckoldy · cuckold-maker · cuckoldly · cuckolding · cuck · cuckoldress · uncuckold · cuckoldee · cucky · cuckoldom · cuckoldize · cuckolder · cuckcake

Hypernyms

cuckoldee · husband

Hyponyms

wittol · plonker · mari complaisant

Relateds

cuckolder · bull · vixen · wittol · cuckoldize · cuckquean

Synonyms

skimmington · hoddy-peak · cornuto · smooth trunkfish (Rhinesomus triqueter) · fringed filefish · cuckhold · cuck · Ostracion triqueter (Rhinesomus triqueter) · Acteon · Vulcanian · cuckold

Translations (76)

nb hanrei (man married to an adulterous spouse) · ia cucu (man married to an adulterous spouse) · co curnutu (man married to an adulterous spouse) · mt kurnut (man married to an adulterous spouse) · ota قورومساق (man married to an adulterous spouse) · ota بوینوزلی (man married to an adulterous spouse) · vo koküfäb (man married to an adulterous spouse) · pl rogacz (man married to an adulterous spouse) · tr kavat (man married to an adulterous spouse) · ota پزونك (man married to an adulterous spouse) · nl hoorndrager (man married to an adulterous spouse) · eo kokrito (man married to an adulterous spouse) · sk paroháč (man married to an adulterous spouse) · tr boynuzlu (man married to an adulterous spouse) · sv hanrej (man married to an adulterous spouse) · tr kerata (man married to an adulterous spouse) · ota ڪراته (man married to an adulterous spouse) · is kokkáll (man married to an adulterous spouse) · hu felszarvazott (man married to an adulterous spouse) · az peysər (man married to an adulterous spouse) · fr cornard (man married to an adulterous spouse) · ota دیوث (man married to an adulterous spouse) · ota كیدی (man married to an adulterous spouse) · es cuclillo (man married to an adulterous spouse) · fa-ira جاکِش (man married to an adulterous spouse) · es tarrudo (man married to an adulterous spouse) · fr cocu (man married to an adulterous spouse) · ca cornut (man married to an adulterous spouse) · pt cabrão (man married to an adulterous spouse) · br dogan (man married to an adulterous spouse) · scn cuinnutu (man married to an adulterous spouse) · ru рога́тый (man married to an adulterous spouse) · la cornutus (man married to an adulterous spouse) · uk рога́тий (man married to an adulterous spouse) · bg рогоно́сец (man married to an adulterous spouse) · tr deyyus (man married to an adulterous spouse) · it becco (man married to an adulterous spouse) · ja コキュ (man married to an adulterous spouse) · cmn 王八 (man married to an adulterous spouse) · he קַרְנָן (man married to an adulterous spouse) · da hanrej (man married to an adulterous spouse) · cy cwcwallt (man married to an adulterous spouse) · az qurumsaq (man married to an adulterous spouse) · pt chifrudo (man married to an adulterous spouse) · pt corno (man married to an adulterous spouse) · de Hahnrei (man married to an adulterous spouse) · fi aisankannattaja (man married to an adulterous spouse) · es novillo (man married to an adulterous spouse) · fa-ira دِیّوث (man married to an adulterous spouse) · cmn 烏龜 /乌龟 (man married to an adulterous spouse) · de Gehörnter (man married to an adulterous spouse) · uk рогоно́сець (man married to an adulterous spouse) · el κερατάς (man married to an adulterous spouse) · la cuculus (man married to an adulterous spouse) · de Hornträger (man married to an adulterous spouse) · et sarvekandja (man married to an adulterous spouse) · cs paroháč (man married to an adulterous spouse) · es cornudo (man married to an adulterous spouse) · be рага́ты (man married to an adulterous spouse) · es cachudo (man married to an adulterous spouse) · ro încornorat (man married to an adulterous spouse) · ota قلتبان (man married to an adulterous spouse) · mk рогоносец (man married to an adulterous spouse) · ja コキュー (man married to an adulterous spouse) · it cornuto (man married to an adulterous spouse) · sh rógonja (man married to an adulterous spouse) · ru куко́лд (man married to an adulterous spouse) · ko 오쟁이진 남편 (man married to an adulterous spouse) · az dəyyus (man married to an adulterous spouse) · ar دَيُّوث (man married to an adulterous spouse) · az oğraş (man married to an adulterous spouse) · sq brinar (man married to an adulterous spouse) · be рагано́сец (man married to an adulterous spouse) · es cachón (man married to an adulterous spouse) · gl cornudo (man married to an adulterous spouse) · sh ро́гоња (man married to an adulterous spouse)

cuckold en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈkʌ.kəld/ (UK)
• /ˈkʌ.kəʊld/ (UK)
• /ˈkʌ.koʊld/ (US)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈkʌ.kəld/ (US)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From Middle English cokolde, cokewold, cockewold, kukwald, kukeweld, from Old French cucuault; a compound of cucu (“cuckoo”) and Old French -auld. The word references the behavior of cuckoo birds where they lay their eggs in another bird’s nest. Cucu is either a directly derived onomatopoeic derivative of the cuckoo's call, or from Latin cucūlus. Latin cucūlus is a compound of onomatopoeic cucu (compare Late Latin cucus) and the diminutive suffix -ulus. Old French -auld is from Frankish *-wald (similar suffixes are used in some personal names within other Germanic languages as well; compare English Harold, for instance), a suffixal use of Frankish *wald (“wielder, ruler, leader”), from Proto-Germanic *waldaz (compare German Gewalt, from the related *waldą (“power, might”)), from *waldaną (“to rule”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- (“to be strong; to rule”). Appears in Middle English in noun form circa 1250 as cokewald. First known use of the verb form is 1589.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To make a cuckold or cuckquean of someone by committing adultery, or by seducing their partner or spouse.
   • Most of the twelve Caesars were rumored to have been licentious as both adulterers and homosexuals (not that the two were mutually exclusive, as will be seen), and Gaius and Nero were both supposed to have been adulterers, active homosexuals, and pathics. According to Suetonius, Julius Caesar was cuckolded by Clodius (Iul. 6, 74) but was himself so noted an adulterer that Pompey (lul. 50) called him "Aegisthus" (mock epic again); and his foreign affairs were the talk of Rome and of the army (Iul, 49–52). 1992, Amy Richlin, The Garden of Priapus: Sexuality and Aggression in Roman Humor, revised edition, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 88:
   • "Gave her anything she wanted - her own car, her own bank account, a free leg to amuse herself as she pleased. Of course she hated him for it. Cuckolded him, too, naturally." 1950, Norman Lindsay, Dust or Polish?, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 173:
   • Hey, I would never cuckold one of my friends. That’s way not cool. 2008, Jeph Jacques, Questionable Content 1319: The Flimsiest of Logic:

Forms

Deriveds

uncuckolded

Synonyms

hornify · behorn · cuck · horn · two-time · put horns on · cuckold · hornify · put horns on · cuck · cuckoldize · horn

Translations (35)

de hörnen (make a cuckold) · fi tehdä jostakusta aisankannattaja (make a cuckold) · pt cornear (make a cuckold) · es poner el gorro (make a cuckold) · ja 不義をする (make a cuckold) · vi cắm sừng (make a cuckold) · it cornificare (make a cuckold) · scn fari li corna (make a cuckold) · tr boynuzu takmak (make a cuckold) · fr porter des cornes (make a cuckold) · cmn 綠 /绿 (make a cuckold) · sh набити рогове (make a cuckold) · nl bedriegen (make a cuckold) · mhr тӱкым пуаш (make a cuckold) · it mettere le corna (make a cuckold) · sk nasadiť parohy (make a cuckold) · es poner las guampas (make a cuckold) · tr boynuzlamak (make a cuckold) · pt chifrar (make a cuckold) · sv hanreja (make a cuckold) · nl de hoorns opzetten (make a cuckold) · pt trair (make a cuckold) · pt pôr chifres em (make a cuckold) · hu felszarvaz (make a cuckold) · fr cocufier (make a cuckold) · es pegar los tarros (make a cuckold) · cy cwcwalltu (make a cuckold) · es poner los cuernos (make a cuckold) · br doganiñ (make a cuckold) · pl przyprawić rogi (make a cuckold) · nl onder de kluiten schieten (make a cuckold) · es poner los cachos (make a cuckold) · ru наста́вить рога́ (make a cuckold) · eo kokri (make a cuckold) · el κερατώνω (make a cuckold)