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Webster 1913 Edition

Cuckold

Cuck′old

(k?k′?ld)
,
Noun.
[OE.
kukeweld
,
cokewold
,
cokold
, fr. OF.
coucoul
,
cucuault
, the last syllable being modified by the OE. suffix
-wold
(see
Herald
); cf. F.
cocu
a cuckold, formerly also, a cuckoo, and L.
cuculus
a cuckoo. The word alludes to the habit of the female cuckoo, who lays her eggs in the nests of other birds, to be hatched by them.]
1.
A man whose wife is unfaithful; the husband of an adulteress.
Shak.
2.
(Zool.)
(a)
A West Indian plectognath fish (
Ostracion triqueter
).
(b)
The cowfish.

Cuck′old

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Cuckolded
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Cuckolding
.]
To make a cuckold of, as a husband, by seducing his wife, or by her becoming an adulteress.
Shak.

Webster 1828 Edition

Cuckold

CUCKOLD

,
Noun.
A man whose wife is false to his bed; the husband of an adulteress.

CUCKOLD

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To make a man a cuckold by criminal conversation with his wife; applied to the seducer.
2.
To make a husband a cuckold by criminal conversation with another man; applied to the wife.

Definition 2025

cuckold

cuckold

English

Ca. 1815 French satire on cuckoldry, which shows both men and women wearing horns.

Noun

cuckold ‎(plural cuckolds)

  1. A man married to an unfaithful wife, especially when he is unaware or unaccepting of the fact.
  2. A West Indian plectognath fish, Rhinesomus.
  3. The cowfish, Acanthostracion quadricornis and allied species.

Quotations

  • For more examples of usage of this term, see Citations:cuckold.

Synonyms

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

  • horner ‎(“one who cuckolds”)

Translations

Verb

cuckold ‎(third-person singular simple present cuckolds, present participle cuckolding, simple past and past participle cuckolded)

  1. (transitive) To make a cuckold of someone by being unfaithful, or by seducing his wife.

Quotations

  • For more examples of usage of this term, see Citations:cuckold.

Translations

Etymology

From Middle English cokolde, cokewold, cockewold, kukwald, kukeweld, from Old French cucuault; a compound of cucu ‎(“cuckoo”) (some varieties of the cuckoo bird lay their eggs in another’s nest) and Old French -auld. Cucu is either a directly derived onomatopoeic derivative of the cuckoo's call, or from Latin cuculus. Latin cuculus is a compound of onomatopoeic cucu (compare Late Latin cucus) and the diminutive suffix -ulus. -auld is from Frankish *-wald (similar suffixes are used in some personal names within other Germanic languages as well; confer English Harold, for instance), a suffixal note of Frankish *wald ‎(“power, mastery, dominion”), from Proto-Germanic *waldą ‎(“might, power, authority”), from *waldaną ‎(“to rule”), from Proto-Indo-European *wal- ‎(“to be strong”). Appears in Middle English in noun form circa 1250 as cokewald. First known use of the verb form is 1589.

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -əʊld
  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈkʌk.əʊld/, /ˈkʌk.əld/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈkʌk.oʊld/, /ˈkʌk.əld/

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