cock English · revision 6518

+ English has two main words spelled cock: the male bird, with its many mechanical and slang senses, and a small pile of hay.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kɒk/ ''(UK)''; /kɑk/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ {{homograph|1|male bird; tap}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited, onomatopoeia|attested=c. 897|origins=ang cocc}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The bird is [[inh|ang|cocc|t=male bird]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) of imitative origin,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) like [[non|kokkr]], [[fro|coc]] and Sanskrit [[m|sa|कुक्कुट|tr=kukkuṭa|t=cock]];^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Hoad derives the Old English word from Medieval Latin [[m|la-med|coccus]], reinforced by French coq.^(Hoad 1986) The native Germanic name survives in [[hen]].^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The male of the domestic fowl: about 897, in Alfred's translation of Gregory's ''Pastoral Care''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old English cocc was a nickname for one who strutted, and in the Middle Ages a cock was a pert boy or servant, then a fellow, as in ''old cock'' (1630s).^(Etymonline)^(GDoS) Technical senses, such as a tap (about 1425) and the hammer of a gun (1560s), are of uncertain connection with the bird;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) German Hahn has the same range.^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) The verb, to fight (about 1150), led to the senses ''swagger'' (1575) and ''set or turn up'' jauntily (about 1600), as in ''cock one's ear''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) To draw back the hammer of a gun is from the 1640s, and ''half-cocked'' by 1750.^(Etymonline) The penis is a slang sense from the Middle Ages,^(Cresswell 2021) and Green notes that it became taboo in the 19th century.^(GDoS) A ''cock-and-bull'' story is from the 1620s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 897 – a rooster.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1425 – a tap.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1560s – the cock of a gun.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1600 – to turn up, as an ear.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1620s – cock-and-bull.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An adult male chicken; a [[rooster]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The male of other birds.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A [[tap]] or valve controlling the flow of a liquid.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The hammer of a [[firearm]], or its position when ready to fire.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(vulgar slang)'' The [[penis]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(British informal)'' A form of address to a man; mate.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To raise the hammer of a gun ready to fire.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To tilt or turn up: ''cock one's head''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cocky]]

+ * [[cockerel]]

+ * [[cockpit]]

+ * [[peacock]]

+ * [[cocktail]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|small heap of hay}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=inherited|attested=before 1398}}

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+ ==Etymology==

+ The haycock is of uncertain origin, probably related to dialectal German [[m|de|Kocke|t=heap of hay or dung]] and Norwegian kok, heap.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A cone-shaped pile of hay in a field: before 1398, in Trevisa's translation of Bartholomew.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The verb, to put hay into cocks, is probably from before 1387.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1387 – to put hay into cocks.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1398 – a haycock.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A small conical pile of [[hay]] in a field.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[haycock]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[chicken]]

+ * [[hen]]

+ * [[cockney]]

+ * [[cockade]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A further obsolete cock, a small boat, survives only in [[cockboat]] and [[coxswain]].^(SOED 2002) Green's Dictionary of Slang also records cock as a euphemism for God in oaths (about 1350).^(GDoS)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}