cuckold

views updated Jun 08 2018

cuck·old / ˈkəkəld; -ōld/ • n. archaic the husband of an adulteress, often regarded as an object of derision.• v. [tr.] (of a man) make (another man) a cuckold by having a sexual relationship with his wife. ∎  (of a man's wife) make (her husband) a cuckold.DERIVATIVES: cuck·old·ry / -drē/ n.ORIGIN: late Old English, from Old French cucuault, from cucu ‘cuckoo’ (from the cuckoo's habit of laying its egg in another bird's nest). The equivalent words in French and other languages applied to both the bird and the adulterer; cuckold has never been applied to the bird in English.

cuckold

views updated May 14 2018

cuckold husband of an unfaithful wife. XIII (cukeweld, later cokewold, cokwald, cocold). — AN. *cucuald, var. of OF. cucuault, f. cucu CUCKOO + pejorative suffix -ald, -aud, -ault.

cuckold

views updated May 14 2018

cuckold the husband of an adulteress, often regarded as an object of derision, ultimately derived from Old French cucu ‘cuckoo’, from the cuckoo's habit of laying its egg in another bird's nest.