mock

Pronunciation

• IPA: /mɒk/ (UK); /mɑk/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English mokken, borrowed from Middle French mocquer (“to deride, jeer”),^[2][3][4] from Old French moquier, of unknown or uncertain origin.^[3][2][5] It may come from Vulgar Latin *muccō (“to blow the nose”) (from Latin mūcus), a derisive gesture,^[3][2] or from Middle Dutch mocken (“to mumble”) or Middle Low German mucken (“to grumble”), perhaps ultimately imitative.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To deceive: probably before 1430, in Lydgate, in Barnhart; to make fun of probably about 1450, the mid-15th century in Etymonline.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It replaced Old English bysmerian.^[3] The noun, a derisive act, is from about 1440 (mokke, about 1425, in Barnhart),^[6][2] and a thing to be derided from 1489.^[6] To imitate or resemble closely is from the 1590s, as in mockingbird (1676),^[3][2] from the idea of derisive imitation.^[3] The adjective, feigned or counterfeit, is from 1548 (the 1540s),^[2][3] as in mock-heroic (1711, Addison) and mock turtle (1758).^[3] Mock-up is a 20th-century word.^[4] Mockery is from probably before 1430.^[2]

Timeline

• probably before 1430 – mokken, to deceive.^[2]
• c. 1450 – to make fun of.^[2]
• 1548 – mock, sham (adjective).^[2]
• 1590s – to imitate.^[3]
• 1711 – mock-heroic.^[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To make fun of; to ridicule with contempt.
2. To imitate, especially to make fun of; to mimic.
3. To frustrate or defy: the weather mocked our plans.

Adjective

1. Not real; sham, imitation: a mock trial.

Noun

1. An act of mocking, or an object of mockery.

Word family

• mocker
• mockingly
• mockable
• bemock
• mock-heroic
• mockumentary
• unmocked
• mock epic

Related words

• mockery
• mockingbird
• mock-up

Usage notes

In Dorset, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall a mock is the stump of a tree, or a log;^[7][6] in Devon and Cornwall also the pomace of apples in the cider press.^[7]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)