mock English · revision 15530

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=probably before 1430}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mɒk/ ''(UK)''; /mɑk/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|mokken]], [[bor|frm|mocquer|t=to deride, jeer]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from Old French [[m|fro|moquier]], of unknown or uncertain origin.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) It may come from [[la-vul|*muccō|t=to blow the nose]] (from [[la|mūcus]]), a derisive gesture,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) or from [[dum|mocken|t=to mumble]] or [[gml|mucken|t=to grumble]], perhaps ultimately imitative.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==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.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It replaced Old English [[m|ang|bysmerian]].^(Etymonline) The noun, a derisive act, is from about 1440 (mokke, about 1425, in Barnhart),^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) and a thing to be derided from 1489.^(OED 1989) To imitate or resemble closely is from the 1590s, as in [[mockingbird]] (1676),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from the idea of derisive imitation.^(Etymonline) The adjective, feigned or counterfeit, is from 1548 (the 1540s),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) as in mock-heroic (1711, Addison) and mock turtle (1758).^(Etymonline) Mock-up is a 20th-century word.^(Hoad 1986) Mockery is from probably before 1430.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * probably before 1430 – mokken, to deceive.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1450 – to make fun of.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1548 – mock, sham (adjective).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1590s – to imitate.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1711 – mock-heroic.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make fun of; to [[ridicule]] with contempt.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To imitate, especially to make fun of; to [[mimic]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To frustrate or defy: ''the weather mocked our plans''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Not real; [[sham]], imitation: ''a mock trial''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # An act of mocking, or an object of mockery.^(AHD)

+

+ ==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;^(Wright 1898)^(OED 1989) in Devon and Cornwall also the pomace of apples in the cider press.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}