peacock English · revision 917

11 Oct 2026, 02:24 by bogdan “New entry from the dictionary sources (AHD, Barnhart, Etymonline, MW, OED, RHWU, Wiktionary)” current version
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+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /ˈpiːkɒk/ ''(UK)''; /ˈpikɑk/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ A Middle English compound of ''pō'' “peafowl” and [[cock]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) ''pō'' being from [[ang|pāwa|t=peafowl]], ''pēa'',^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[bor|la|pāvō|t=peacock]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) The Latin word, like Greek ''taōs'', is said to come ultimately from Tamil, though it may be imitative of the bird's cry.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ The male peafowl (c. 1200 in Barnhart; c. 1300 in Etymonline; 1377 in the OED).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ Noted for its strutting gait and the display of its tail, the peacock became a type of vainglorious person by the mid-14th century, as in ''proud as a po''.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Its flesh was superstitiously believed to be incorruptible.^(Etymonline) The southern constellation Pavo was called the Peacock from 1674.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The verb, “to strut about like a peacock”, is recorded from before 1586, and in Merriam-Webster from 1818.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate) ''Peacock blue'' names the bird's iridescent colour (1873).^(OED 1989)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 1200 – the male peafowl (Barnhart).^(Barnhart 1995)
+ * c. 1374 – a vain person.^(OED 1989)
+ * before 1586 – verb, to puff up with vanity.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1674 – the constellation Pavo.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)
+ * 1873 – peacock blue.^(OED 1989)
+ 
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # The male [[peafowl]], with a crested head, brilliant blue or green plumage and long tail feathers marked with eye-like spots that can be spread in a fan.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ # A peafowl of either sex.^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ # A vain, showy person; a [[dandy]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ===Verb===
+ # To strut about like a peacock; to show off.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[peacockish]]
+ * [[peacocky]]
+ * [[peacockery]]
+ * [[peacock blue]]
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[peahen]]
+ * [[peafowl]]
+ * [[pavonine]]
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}