cocklightn.
/ˈkɒklʌɪt/, U.S. /ˈkɑkˌlaɪt/ 1. Dawn, daybreak. archaic or English regional in later use. Cf. cockcrow n. 1.
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the world > time > day and night > night > [noun] > last hour of night, pre-dawn, or cockcrow
cockcrowc1300
cockcrowingc1384
cocklighta1625
anteluca1696
fore-dawn1884
pre-dawn1930
a1625 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Two Noble Kinsmen (1634) iv. i. 112 I must loose my Maydenhead by cocklight.
1855 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Yorks. Words 35 We are out o' bed by cock leet, and work till sundown.
1858 ‘N. Hogg’ Poet. Lett. (ed. 3) 57 Make tha cocks believe therevrom Thit, stid a nite, Cockleert wis com.
1901 E. Phillpotts Striking Hours 73 We left it at that, an' finished up the party, an' drinked all theer was to drink just afore cock-light.
1962 M. Renault Bull from Sea (1968) vi. 59 Next morning we started out at cocklight; we two on horseback, the King on an ambling mule.
2. English regional (south-western). Dusk, twilight. Cf. cockshut n.Quot. 1727 may instead be interpreted as showing sense 1 and this ambiguity is probably reflected in quot. 1787.
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1727 Exmoor Scholding i, in Brice's Weekly Jrnl. 2 June 1/3 He'll meet tha in the Vuzzy-park, conder pretty tapsey, be Cock-Leert, or avore.
1787 F. Grose Provinc. Gloss. Cock-leet, day-break; or, sometimes, the dusk of the evening. Exm[oor].
1886 Western Times (Exeter) 26 Mar. 6/4 Cocklight— Twilight. So called as being a very suitable time for shooting woodcocks, so plentiful on the moors.
1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. (at cited word) The best time to meet way they wild-ducks is jist in the cock-light, hon they be flying in.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2019; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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