cough English · revision 10788

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=onomatopoeia|attested=before 1325|origins=ang *cohhian}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /kɒf/, US /kɑːf/, /kɔːf/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|coughen]], kouwen, probably from an unrecorded Old English [[m|ang|*cohhian]], of which [[m|ang|cohhettan|t=to bluster]] is a frequentative,^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) of imitative origin,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) and akin to [[dum|kochen|t=to cough]] and [[gmh|kūchen|t=to breathe heavily]] ([[de|keuchen|t=to pant]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To expel air from the lungs violently and noisily: before 1325 in Barnhart, about 1325 in the OED.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The noun, a single cough, is from about 1300 in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) and an illness with frequent coughing from 1377 in the OED.^(OED 1989) ''Cough medicine'' is attested by 1828 and ''cough drops'' by 1829.^(Etymonline) ''Cough up'', to hand over money, is first recorded in 1894 in American English,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and in slang to cough is to confess or give information (1901).^(OED 1989) The gh once stood for a guttural sound like that of Scottish loch, which shifted to f.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1325 – to cough.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1377 – a cough (illness).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1828 – cough medicine.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1894 – cough up.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1901 – to confess (slang).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To force air out of the [[lung|alt=lungs]] suddenly and noisily.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To make a similar sound, as an engine.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''cough up'' ''(informal)'': to hand over money or information unwillingly.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # An act or sound of coughing.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An illness causing frequent coughing.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cougher]]

+ * [[cough up]]

+ * [[cough drop]]

+ * [[cough syrup]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}