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peacock

Etymology and origin of the English word peacock

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈpiːkɒk/ (UK); /ˈpikɑk/ (US)[1]

Etymology

A Middle English compound of pō “peafowl” and cock,[2][3][4][5][6] pō being from Old English pāwa (“peafowl”), pēa,[2][3][4][5][6] borrowed from Latin pāvō (“peacock”).[2][3][4][5][6] The Latin word, like Greek taōs, is said to come ultimately from Tamil, though it may be imitative of the bird's cry.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The male peafowl (c. 1200 in Barnhart; c. 1300 in Etymonline; 1377 in the OED).[3][4][7]

Semantic evolution

Noted for its strutting gait and the display of its tail, the peacock became a type of vainglorious person by the mid-14th century, as in proud as a po.[4][7] Its flesh was superstitiously believed to be incorruptible.[4] The southern constellation Pavo was called the Peacock from 1674.[7][4] The verb, “to strut about like a peacock”, is recorded from before 1586, and in Merriam-Webster from 1818.[7][5] Peacock blue names the bird's iridescent colour (1873).[7]

Timeline

  • c. 1200 – the male peafowl (Barnhart).[3]
  • c. 1374 – a vain person.[7]
  • before 1586 – verb, to puff up with vanity.[7]
  • 1674 – the constellation Pavo.[7][4]
  • 1873 – peacock blue.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The male peafowl, with a crested head, brilliant blue or green plumage and long tail feathers marked with eye-like spots that can be spread in a fan.
  2. A peafowl of either sex.
  3. A vain, showy person; a dandy.

Verb

  1. To strut about like a peacock; to show off.

Word family

  • peacockish
  • peacocky
  • peacockery
  • peacock blue
  • peahen
  • peafowl
  • pavonine

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Peacock.” Etymologically, 11 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/peacock. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·