cockroach English · revision 2302

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈkɒkɹəʊt͡ʃ/ ''(UK)''; /ˈkɑkɹoʊt͡ʃ/, /ˈkɑkəɹoʊt͡ʃ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|es|cucaracha|t=cockroach; chafer, beetle]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) from ''cuca'' “a kind of caterpillar”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) reshaped by folk etymology as if from English ''cock'' and ''roach''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An insect of the genus ''Blatta'', especially the large dark-brown household pest (1624).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995) The first recorded use, ''cacarootch'', is in a 1624 work by the colonist John Smith;^(AHD)^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1623.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ English speakers did not simply borrow the Spanish word but made it look like familiar English words,^(AHD) first ''cacarootch'' and then, from 1657, ''cockroche''.^(AHD) Folk etymology also connected the first part with ''caca'' “excrement”, perhaps because of the insect's smell.^(Etymonline) It is also called simply ''roach''.^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1624 – ''cacarootch'', the insect.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1657 – the form ''cockroche''.^(AHD)

+ * 1756 – ''cockroach apple''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Any of numerous flat-bodied, fast-moving, chiefly nocturnal insects of the order Blattodea, several of which are common household pests.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(derogatory)'' A term of abuse for a person regarded as despicable.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[roach]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cucaracha]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}