cuculus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [kʊˈkuː.ɫʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [kuˈkuː.lus]^[1]

Forms

cucūlus m (genitive cucūlī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is onomatopoeic, imitating the bird's call “cucu”, a type of name found in many Indo-European languages.^[2][3][1] Compare Ancient Greek κόκκυξ (kókkux, “cuckoo”), Sanskrit कोकिल (kokilá, “cuckoo”), Middle Irish cúach (“cuckoo”) and English cuckoo.^[2][4] Within Latin, compare cuccubiō “to hoot”.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus uses it as a term of abuse: “your wife drags you out of the brothel, you grey-headed cuckoo”.^[3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was the cuckoo, and its call was imitated to mock farmers who had not pruned their vines by its arrival.^[3] Varro lists it among birds named from their cries.^[3][6] As abuse it meant a fool, a ninny, or a lazy man.^[3][7]

In medieval Latin it meant a cuckold and a bastard.^[8] It survives as French coucou and Italian cuculo.^[1] English cuckoo comes from Old French cocu, likewise imitative.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it as a term of abuse.^[3][5]
• 116–27 BC – Varro lists it among birds named from their calls.^[3][5]
• c. 1300 – English cuckoo is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The cuckoo.^[3][9]
2. A fool, ninny (as a term of reproach).^[3][7]
3. (Medieval Latin) A cuckold; a bastard.^[8]

Word family

• cuculō

Related words

• cucus
• English cuckoo

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Marcus Terentius Varro, De lingua Latina (text of The Latin Library; book and paragraph numbers as there).
7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press