coneyn.¹

Brit.

/ˈkəʊni/, U.S.

/ˈkoʊni/

Inflections: Plural conies, coneys.

Forms:

α. Middle English conyn, Middle English conyne, Middle English cunin, Middle English konyn, Middle English konyne, 1500s cunnin; Scottish pre-1700 1700s– kinnen, 1800s– kyunnen (Shetland), 1900s– kionnen (Shetland), 1900s– kjunin (Shetland), 1900s– kjunnin (Shetland), 1900s– kunnin (Orkney), 1900s– kyoneen (Shetland), 1900s– kyonin (Shetland).

β. Middle English coninges (plural), Middle English connyng, Middle English connynges (plural), Middle English conyng, Middle English conynge, Middle English cunyng, Middle English kinyng, Middle English konyng, Middle English kuning, 1500s cunninges (plural); Scottish pre-1700 coning, pre-1700 conyng, pre-1700 cunning, pre-1700 cunnyng, pre-1700 cunyng, pre-1700 cwyning, pre-1700 cwynyng, pre-1700 kynning, pre-1700 1800s cuning, 1700s–1800s kinning; N.E.D. (1891) also records a form Middle English conninge.

γ. Middle English conig, Middle English connygez (plural), Middle English cunig.

δ. Middle English conees (plural), Middle English cones (plural), Middle English (in a late copy) conies (plural), Middle English kuynys (plural), Middle English–1600s coni- (in compounds), Middle English–1600s conye, Middle English– coney, Middle English– cony, 1500s coneye, 1500s connes (plural), 1500s counnies (plural), 1500s cunni- (in compounds), 1500s cunnies (plural), 1500s konys (plural), 1500s–1600s conie, 1500s–1600s connie, 1500s–1600s connye, 1500s–1600s cunney, 1500s–1600s cunnie, 1500s–1600s 1800s conny, 1500s–1700s conney, 1500s–1800s (1900s– Irish English (northern)) cunny, 1600s conni- (in compounds), 1600s cunie, 1700s cooney, 1700s cunne- (in compounds), 1800s– connies (Scottish, plural).

Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymons: French conin; French coni; French coniz.

Etymology: Partly (i) < Anglo-Norman and Old French conin, Old French, Middle French connin, Middle French counin (French connin ) rabbit (12th cent.; also in Anglo-Norman as conynge, coning, coninge, couning), alteration (with suffix substitution: compare -in -ine suffix¹) of Anglo-Norman conel , cunil , Anglo-Norman and Old French conil , connil (see below); partly (ii) < Anglo-Norman coni, conie, conig, analogical singular of cunis , coniz , conys , plural (see below); and partly (iii) directly < Anglo-Norman coniz, conys, Anglo-Norman and Old French cunis, Old French connis (12th cent.; compare Old French conilz ), plural of Anglo-Norman conel , cunil , Anglo-Norman and Old French conil , Old French connil (Middle French, French connil ) rabbit (12th cent.) < classical Latin cunīculus rabbit (also burrow, underground passage, military mine), in post-classical Latin frequently denoting the skin or fur of a rabbit (from 12th cent. in British sources); according to ancient authors (e.g. Pliny) a word of Spanish origin; the ending may show -culus -culus suffix. Compare post-classical Latin coninus, cuninus (from 12th cent. in British sources), coningus, cunningus (from 13th cent. in British sources).Historical background. Although there is archaeological evidence to suggest that rabbits existed in Britain before the last ice age and that some attempt may have been made to reintroduce them in the Roman period, the rabbit appears to have been unknown to the Anglo-Saxons, and only successfully re-established in Norman times: it has no native name in Celtic or Germanic (Welsh cwning (collective plural) (14th cent.) is from Middle English; Irish coinnín and Scottish Gaelic coinean are from Middle English or Anglo-Norman). Documentary sources indicate that rabbits were farmed on islands off the mainland of England in the 12th cent. and on the mainland from the early 13th cent.; it is notable that the word coney n.¹ occurs in English earlier with reference to the fur (perhaps imported) than to the animal. Potentially anachronistic attestation in Anglo-Saxon charter bounds. It has been suggested that the word appears as the first element of the toponym conigraue (second element: grove n.) in the Anglo-Saxon bounds of Marksbury, Somerset, as recorded in a mid 14th-cent. copy of a charter of 936:c1340 ( Bounds (Sawyer 431) in S. E. Kelly Charters of Glastonbury Abbey (2012) 355 On radanforde, þanen endlang brokes on conigraue est and northward, þanen on ryȝte to wedergraue suthward.This potentially anachronistic early attestation of coney n.¹ has been taken as evidence either that the boundary clause is post-Conquest in origin or that the original survey has been updated or revised. (It is noteworthy that the brook mentioned in close proximity to conigraue is now known as Conygre Brook , the first element of which is clearly a form of cunnigar n. ‘rabbit warren’.) It has alternatively been suggested that the bounds may after all be pre-Conquest, but that the manuscript form may result from a post-Conquest scribal error (perhaps influenced by the later name of the brook) for *comgraue ( < coomb n.² + grove n.; compare Comegrave , Staffordshire (1086; now Congreve)), an interpretation which is apparently supported by the local topography. See further S. E. Kelly Charters of Glastonbury Abbey (2012) 357–8. Parallels in the Romance languages. With Old French conil , etc., compare Old Occitan conilh (1200), conil (1268), Catalan conill (14th cent.), Spanish conejo (1263 or earlier), Portuguese coelho (1102 as †conelio ), Italian coniglio (1353). Forms in the Germanic languages. Old French conin was also borrowed into other Germanic languages; compare Middle Dutch conin , conijn (1240, Dutch konijn ), Middle Low German konīn , kanīn , early modern German kanein , kanin (mid 15th cent.; compare German Kaninchen , diminutive). Compare also Old High German cōnol (12th cent.; < Old French conil ). Development of individual senses. In sense 5 ultimately rendering Hebrew šāpān rock hyrax. Pronunciation history. The historical pronunciation is with /ʌ/ or /ʊ/, as indicated by the early spellings in -u- ; from the 16th to the 18th cent., δ. forms of the word are regularly rhymed in verse with honey n. and money n. (compare e.g. ?1548 and a1637 at sense 3, 1661 at sense 9, etc., and the common spelling coney ; see further forms and discussion at cunny n.). The usual current pronunciation with long ō ( /əʊ/) seems to have become established during the course of the 19th cent., and may in part be a spelling pronunciation reflecting the rarity of the word in general use in standard English at this date, when it may have been most familiar to many from use in the Bible (and especially in the Psalms) as the name of a foreign animal (sense 5). However, this pronunciation is likely to have been reinforced by the desire to avoid association with cunt n. and related words (compare cunny n.), especially in a religious context. While Walker (1791, at cony) records only the pronunciation with /ʌ/, Smart (1836) asserts that, although the word is ‘familiarly pronounced’ in this way, the pronunciation with ō is the ‘regular pronunciation..proper for solemn reading’.

I. Senses relating to the rabbit.

a. The skin or fur of the rabbit; a rabbit skin.Repopularized as a term of the fur trade in the late 19th cent.; rare (historical or regional) in the 18th and early 19th centuries.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > skin or hide > skin with hair attached or fur > [noun] > of rabbit

coneya1200

coney skinc1450

coney fur1597

coney wool1630

Angora1763

flick1812

rabbit1906

bunny1950

chinchilla1959

a1200 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Trin. Cambr.) 365 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 231 (MED) Ne sal þar ben foh, ne grai, ne cunin [a1225 Egerton kuning, ?c1250 Egerton cunig, a1300 Jesus Oxf. konyng], ne ermine.

c1436 Domesday Ipswich (BL Add. 25011) in T. Twiss Black Bk. Admiralty (1873) II. 191 Eche c. of lambrys skynnys, bogee, conyns, foxis, cattyn, and of alle other maner skynnes passyng out of the lond.

c1524 in J. Nichols Illustr. Antient Times Eng. (1797) 124 A rosset old gowne with old blak conney.

1559 in Proc. Suffolk Inst. Archaeol. & Nat. Hist. (1874) 4 178 To Eliz., wife to her son John Barnardiston,..her gown of cloth, faced with black conies.

1595 P. Henslowe Diary 27 Aug. (1961) 37 A manes gowne of purpell coller cloth face w^th conney.

a1625 J. Fletcher Noble Gentleman v. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Ff2/2 A quiver of your graces linde with Cunney.

a1641 J. Smyth Berkeley MSS (1883) I. 305 All of them of cloth, and furred with Coney.

1680 S. G. tr. Royal Charter Charles II. City of London 231 Gloves lined with Coney or Lamb-Skins.

a1823 J. N. Johnson Life T. Linacre (1835) v. 262 He..appointed William Page..the overseer of his will, with a bequest to him of his gown of violet engrayned and furred with black coney.

1873 N.-Y. Times 5 Oct. 6/4 (advt.) Children's furs of every description, including White and Silver-Gray Coney.

1877 E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs. Conies, rabbit-skins.

1905 Washington Post 13 Nov. 7/3 A very stylish red coat of extra flne cloth is lined with coney and ermine.

1979 H. Hood Reservoir Ravine 1 16 A certain youthful tweed coat in all-wool fancy material with..shaded coney at collar and cuffs.

2009 M. Hayward Rich Apparel iv. 102 The darker the fur, the more highly they were prized, so making black coney, black lamb or budge and black genettes all in demand.

b. Originally U.S. An item of clothing made of rabbit fur or skin.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [noun] > made from specific material > skin > types of

coney1855

sealskin1858

mutation mink1942

1855 P. T. Barnum Life 99 If a ‘pedler’ wanted to trade with us for a box of beaver hats,..he was sure to obtain a box of ‘coneys’.

1930 Daily News (Perth) 25 Oct. Short white coneys trimmed with real ermine tails for evening wear were only £6 6s.

1951 Life 3 Dec. 83 For the innocent fur shopper, lost in the jungle of ‘mink-dyed Baltic coneys’, here is some timely advice on how to keep from getting skinned.

1982 Daily Mail 7 Dec. 12 (advt.) Our range starts from budget-priced coneys.

2. A rabbit. Now chiefly regional.

a. As hunted, bred, sold, or prepared for food. Also as a mass noun. [In quot. a1350 a punning allusion to Peter Conyng , the name in English of Pieter de Coninck (c1225–1333; with the surname compare Middle Dutch coninc king n.), Flemish weaver and leader of a popular rebellion against French rule of Flanders; compare branch III.]

ΚΠ

a1350 in R. H. Robbins Hist. Poems 14th & 15th Cent. (1959) 11 (MED) We shule flo þe Conyng & make roste is loyne; Þe word shal springen of him in to coloyne.

c1350 Nominale (Cambr. Ee.4.20) in Trans. Philol. Soc. (1906) 21* Deym deyme et conyz, Buk doo and conye.

a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 182 Whanne he went hom..he com him-self y-charged wiþ conyng & hares.

a1425 (a1399) Forme of Cury (BL Add.) 27 in C. B. Hieatt & S. Butler Curye on Inglysch (1985) 103 Take connynges and smyte hem on pecys.

1466 in Manners & Househ. Expenses Eng. (1841) 435 Item, for a shulder of motone, a brest, and a cony, viij.d.

1560 J. Heywood Fourth Hundred Epygrams xv. sig. Avi^v Thou sellest..conies in this pultry shoppe.

1572 (a1500) Taill of Rauf Coilȝear (1882) 209 Of Capounis and Cunningis they had plentie.

1591 J. Lyly Endimion v. ii. sig. H4^v I preferre an olde Cony before a Rabbet sucker, and an ancient henne before a younge chicken peeper.

1655 T. Moffett & C. Bennet Healths Improvem. ix. 76 The Romans, who fatned young Hares in clappers, as we do Connies.

1687 J. Shirley Accomplished Ladies Rich Closet of Rarities vii. 52 In unlacing a Coney. Turn the belly upwards, cutting the belly-pieces from the Kidneys.

1724 Johnie Armstrang in A. Ramsay Ever Green II. 191 Make Kinnen and Capon ready then, And Venison in great Plenty.

1751 T. Smollett Peregrine Pickle II. lii. 118 The dish had a particular rankness of taste, which he had imputed partly to the nature of the French coney, and partly to the composition of their sauces.

1785 South Cave Inclos. Act. 33 No person shall turn out or stock with conies or rabbits any part of the lands.

a1839 W. M. Praed Poems (1864) I. 133 And filled her kitchen every day With leverets and conies.

1867 Wigan Observer 23 Feb. Two young men..were charged with trespassing in search of coneys.

1905 W. G. Eley Retrievers & Retrieving i. 42 The wild coney must not be our prey.

1975 I. S. Rombauer & M. R. Becker Joy of Cooking (rev. ed.) 513/1 With protein so sought after, we may all become more interested in having a colony of coneys nearby from which to make Hasenpfeffer.

1983 V. S. Reid Nanny-town xxii. 202 We were also hunting coney and wild pig.

1989 O. Senior Arrival of Snake-woman 32 I would..hunt birds and coneys and hogs in the woods.

b. gen. In early use often: spec. (more fully old coney) an adult rabbit; a rabbit over a year old.Rabbit was originally a name for the young animal only: see rabbit n.¹ 1a.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Lagomorpha (rabbits and hares) > [noun] > family Leporidae > genus Oryctolagus (rabbit)

coneyc1430

rabbit1502

bunny1699

pussy1715

mappie1825

map1866

drummer1894

flopsy bunny1909

underground mutton1946

c1430 (c1380) G. Chaucer Parl. Fowls (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1871) l. 193 The litele conyes to here pley gunne hye.

Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 421 Rabet, yonge conye, cunicellus.

a1450 (c1400) in D. M. Grisdale 3 Middle Eng. Serm. (1939) 78 (MED) Þe lion, whan a is an-hungred, a wil nat gladliche tak a litel beste, as an har or a konyng.

1532 Romaunt Rose in Wks. G. Chaucer f. cxxxv/2 Connes there were also playenge That comyn out of her clapers.

1572 J. Higgins Huloets Dict. (rev. ed.) Rabet, or yonge conye.

1575 G. Gascoigne Noble Arte Venerie lxiii. 178 The Conie beareth hyr Rabettes .xxx. dayes.

1597 A. Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 18 I sawe the Cunnin [ed. 2 Cunning] and the cat, Quhais downes with the dewe was wat.

1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Counilleau, a young Rabbet, little young Connie.

1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. vii. 132 A conie, 1 [year] a Rabett, and after an old Cony.

1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Old-Coney, after the first Year.

1735 Sportsman's Dict. II. sig. Ss4^v/1 A coney is called the first year a rabbet, and afterwards an old coney.

1740 S. Johnson Drake in Gentleman's Mag. Dec. 600 Holes like those of Conies.

1759 S. Johnson Rasselas I. xiii. 93 The conies, which the rain had driven from their burrows, had taken shelter among the bushes.

1820 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. June 507/2 L. cuniculus. Rabbit... E. Coney. S. Kinnen. The rabbit is common in Scotland and the islands.

1848 E. Bulwer-Lytton Harold III. xii. i. 250 You might see..the hares and conies stealing forth to sport or to feed.

1867 E. Sauter tr. F. von Hochstetter New Zealand 161 It..is of the size of a large cony with a glossy brown fur.

1885 R. Buchanan Annan Water viii Conies, like elfin things, gambolled in the grass before her.

1958 Boys' Life Nov. 86/4 In the complete silence that followed her going, the conys crouching in their earth ceased to tremble.

1993 I. Macleod & P. Cairns Conc. Eng.-Scots Dict. Rabbit, kinnen, kyunnen.

1997 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 16 Jan. 1 The humble cony or European rabbit..has become a major pest throughout The Hills district of Sydney's north-west.

c. A young rabbit. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Lagomorpha (rabbits and hares) > [noun] > family Leporidae > genus Oryctolagus (rabbit) > young

rabbita1398

rabbit-suckera1475

rabbit-starter1651

squab1838

coney1876

1876 C. C. Robinson Gloss. Words Dial. Mid-Yorks. Coney, usually applied to a young rabbit.

1911 H. W. Ruoff Conc. Graded Repository Pract. & Cultural Knowl. 233/2 Young rabbit; cony.

3. The flesh of a rabbit as food. Now chiefly regional.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > game > [noun] > flesh of rabbit or hare

coneya1450

wingc1470

underground mutton1946

a1450 in T. Austin Two 15th-cent. Cookery-bks. (1888) 61 Connyng Rostyd. Curlew. Fesaunt Rostyd.

a1486 (c1429) Menu Banquet Hen. VI in Archaeologia (1900) 57 57 Cony, Chekyn endored, Partriche.

?1548 J. Bale Comedy Thre Lawes Nature ii. sig. Biiij^v They wyll durty puddynges eate, For wante of befe and conye [rhymes monye, honye, sonnye].

1584 T. Cogan Hauen of Health cxxxv. 121 Conie..so plentifull a meate in this lande.

a1637 B. Jonson Under-woods in Wks. (1640) III. 226 If there be no money, No Plover, or Coney Will come to the Table.

c1675 God speed Plow (new ed.) (single sheet) At our Table you may Eat All sorts of Dainty Meat; Pig, Cony, Goose, Capon, and Swan.

1778 Journey Dr. Robert Bongout ii. 15 ‘Hostess, quoth he, what hast to eat?’ ‘Cony, good Sir, and butcher's meat’.

1868 All Year Round 29 Feb. 286/2 With pheasant, partridge, or coney they eat mustard and sugar.

1978 U. K. Le Guin Eye of Heron v, in Millennial Women 186 The supreme moment of the dinner arrived, the meat course, roast coney.

2007 T. Williams Shadowplay vi. 75 And that other, yes, th'un with yellow berries..makes a fine stew with coney or water rat.

4. Chiefly Heraldry. A representation of a rabbit.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > heraldic representations of creatures > [noun] > animals

boar1297

leopardc1330

lionc1330

lionceauc1450

unicornc1450

talbot1491

porcupine?a1549

musion1572

tiger1572

lyam-hound1591

coney1598

lioncel1610

lion-leopard1612

lionel1661

marcassin1727

1598 J. Stow Suruay of London 212 A signe of three Conies, hanging ouer a Poulters stall.

1610 J. Guillim Display of Heraldrie iii. xvi. 148 He beareth Argent, three Conies Sable.

1641 J. Yorke Union of Honour Suppl. 18, 3 Conies currant argent.

1765 ‘M. A. Porny’ Elements Heraldry v. 111 The relation of some Creatures, Figures, &c. to particular names, has been likewise a very fruitful source for variety of Arms; thus the family of Coningsby bears three Coneys.

1869 J. E. Cussans Handbk. Heraldry (rev. ed.) vi. 83 A Hare or Rabbit (heraldically termed Coney).

1875 Relquary July 50 A hawk, with wings expanded proper, belled or, preying upon a coney argent.

1908 W. B. Bannerman Miscellanea Genealogica & Heraldica II. 4th ser. 51 A coney sejant argent, on a wreath argent and gules.

1931 Bull. Mus. Fine Arts (Boston) 29 44/1 He usually marked his plate with one of two stamps—his initials, I C, with a cony below in a shield punch or [etc.].

2005 Derby Evening Tel. (Nexis) 3 Nov. 20 One of the tombs displays a shield of arms, the quarterings of which include that unforgettable ‘canting’ coat of the Hopwells or Hopwell: ‘three conies playing on bagpipes’.

II. Senses relating to other animals.

5. A hyrax; esp. (originally in translations of the Bible, later usually with allusion to it) the rock hyrax, Procavia capensis, widespread in Africa and the Middle East.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > [noun] > order Hyracoidea or genus Procavia > procavia capensis (rock rabbit)

coneya1425

rock rabbit1809

rock hyrax1903

a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Lev. xi. 5 A cirogrille [L. chyrogryllius], ether a conyng [a1450 Corpus Cambr. or a cony].

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms ciii. [civ.] 18 The hilles are a refuge for the wylde goates, and so are the stony rockes for y^e conyes.

1568 Bible (Bishops') Prov. xxx. 26 The conies are but a feeble folke, yet make their boroughes among the rocks.

1611 Bible (King James) Deut. xiv. 7 The camel, and the hare, and the cony .

1834 T. Pringle Afr. Sketches vi. 204 Rocky ravines inhabited by..the das or coney.

1857 D. Livingstone Missionary Trav. S. Afr. 22 A variety of preparations, such as..inspissated renal deposit of the mountain Coney (Hyrax capensis).

1885 Bible (R.V.) Lev. xi. 7 The Coney [margin The Hyrax Syriacus or rock-badger.].

1891 Daily News 9 Nov. 5/5 Among the novelties lately added to the collection of living animals in the Regent's Park is a coney or hyrax belonging to a different species.

1931 Times Educ. Suppl. 22 Aug. iv/3 Hyraxes, known also as ‘Dassies’, or ‘Rock-rabbits’, the conies of the Bible.

1968 I. W. Cornwall Prehistoric Animals & their Hunters vii. 138 The living hyraxes are of two genera: Procavia, including the biblical ‘coney’ and the ‘dassie’ of South Africa, and Dendrohyrax.

2006 K. D. Rose Beginning Age Mammals xiii. 257/2 The Hyracoidea are represented today by the rabbit-sized dassies or hyraxes of Africa (referred to as conies in the Old Testament).

6. Any of various smaller mammals of the New World; esp. the guinea pig ( Cavia porcellus), the agouti (genus Dasyprocta), and (in recent use) the American pika ( Ochotona princeps). Frequently with distinguishing word.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > mammals > [noun] > unspecified types

coney1555

hipponesse1619

1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde iii. viii. f. 134^v In the citie of Dominica..connies [L. cuniculos], (whiche they caule Vtias beynge no bygger then myse).

1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 112 The Indian little Pig-Cony..is..more tractable in hand; howbeit vntamable.

1710 Brit. Apollo 4–6 Sept. A Guinea Pig..in Johnston's Natural History goes by the Name of a Spanish Coney.

1796 J. G. Stedman Narr. Exped. Surinam II. xxii. 153 The long-nosed Cavy..or Indian Coney. In Surinam..there is still another species of the Agouti, called the Indian Rat-Coney, on account of its having a long tail.

1898 Outing Jan. 361/2 The jubilant warble of bright-winged birds, the chipper and startled rush of shy Indian conies.

1946 National Geographic Mag. July 65/2 This gives way to treeless savannas and boulder-strewn mountain summits where the shrill-voiced conies, or pikas..live.

2006 B. Filley Discovering Wonders of Wonderland Trail 216 Such slopes are the natural homes of hoary marmots and conies (pikas).

7. Any of several small groupers (fishes) of the Caribbean and West Atlantic; spec. Cephalopholis fulva, which occurs in various colour phases. Cf. coney fish n. 1.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > family Serranidae (sea-bass) > [noun] > member of genus Epinephelus (grouper)

rockfish1605

grouper1615

jewfish1679

mero1763

red grouper1822

kingklip1834

coney1884

redbelly1890

1884 G. B. Goode in G. B. Goode et al. Fisheries U.S.: Sect. I 412 The Coney, Epinephelus apua, of Key West, the Hind of Bermuda, is an important food-fish which occurs throughout the West Indies.

1919 Ann. Rep. N.Y. Zool. Soc. 1918 114 (table) Yellow Coney or Butterfish, Bodianus fulvus.

1958 Ecology 39 145/1 The coney (Cephalopholis fulvus) has habits somewhat comparable to those of the hind.

2007 F. Sunquist et al. Florida (new ed.) 450/1 (caption) Coney Epinephelus fulvus. This common small grouper exhibits a wide range of color patterns.

III. With reference to a person. Cf. also quot. a1350 at sense 2a.

†8. A soldier who constructs underground passages. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

a1450 ( tr. Vegetius De Re Militari (Douce) f. 107 (MED) Mynoures þat ben cleped here coninges [v.r. conyes]..sometyme þei þat þus myneþ entreth be nyght..in to þe citee.

9. Used as a term of endearment, originally for a woman. Now archaic or literary.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > love > terms of endearment > [noun] > of or to a girl > of or to a woman

mousec1525

coneya1529

nobsa1529

muskin1530

mully?1548

carissima1857

chickadee1860

Schatz1907

a1529 J. Skelton Tunnyng of Elynour Rummyng in Certayne Bks. (?1545) sig. D^v He calleth me his whytyng..His nobbes and his conny.

a1556 N. Udall Ralph Roister Doister (?1566) i. iv. sig. C.j Ah sweete lambe and coney.

1560 J. Heywood Fourth Hundred Epygrams xv. sig. Avi^v Iane thou sellst sweete conies in this pultry shoppe: But none so sweete as thy selfe, sweete conye moppe.

1598 G. Chapman Blinde Begger of Alexandria v. 37 New fashion terms I like not; for a man To call his wife cony, forsooth, and lamb And pork and mutton, he may as well say.

1613 F. Beaumont Knight of Burning Pestle Prol. sig. B1^v Wife..Husband, husband... Cit. What sayst thou cunny?

1640 R. Brathwait Ar't Asleepe Husband? 47 Pray thee chick, what art' doing? Praying, Coney, said he. For what, Pigs-nie, said shee?

1661 J. Phillips Wit & Drollery 26 My Willy my Billy, my Hony my conny, My love my dove my dear.

1767 ‘A. Barton’ Disappointment i. 25 And can you leave me so soon, my dear Cooney?

1820 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. July 439 And, so my loving Joan, my dear—dear, Cony.

1823 ‘J. Bee’ Slang 106 Ironing—i. e. Irony; e. g. ‘Bill Noon, you are one of the best in all England, for nollidje and for larning.’ ‘Nay, nay, my Coney, now you're ironing me—all down the back.’

1933 W. H. Auden Poems (ed. 2) 58 What's in your mind, my dove, my coney.

2001 M. L. Settle I, Roger Williams xiii. 158 My little Puritan coney, my pretty boy, thou hast naught but these.

10. The victim or target of a swindler; a dupe; a gullible person. Now historical.See note at coney-catcher n. 1.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > cheating, fraud > duping, making a fool of > [noun] > gullible person, dupe

foola1382

woodcockc1430

geckc1530

cousinc1555

cokes1567

milch cow1582

gudgeon1584

coney1591

martin1591

gull1594

plover1599

rook1600

gull-finch1604

cheatee1615

goata1616

whirligig1624

chouse1649

coll1657

cully1664

bubble1668

lamb1668

Simple Simon?1673

mouth1680

dupe1681

cull1698

bub1699

game1699

muggins1705

colour1707

milk cow1727

flat1762

gulpin1802

slob1810

gaggee1819

sucker1838

hoaxee1840

softie1850

foozle1860

lemon1863

juggins1882

yob1886

patsy1889

yapc1894

fall guy1895

fruit1895

meemaw1895

easy mark1896

lobster1896

mark1896

wise guy1896

come-on1897

pushover1907

John1908

schnookle1908

Gretchen1913

jug1914

schnook1920

soft touch1924

prospect1931

steamer1932

punter1934

dill1941

Joe Soap1943

possum1945

Moreton Bay1953

easy touch1959

1591 R. Greene Notable Discouery of Coosenage f. 8^v In Conny-catching Law. He that is coosened [is called] the Conny.

1592 ‘C. Cony-Catcher’ Def. Conny-catching sig. B4 An old Cony-catcher..that could lurtch a poore Conie of so many thousands at one time.

1607 E. Sharpham Fleire ii. sig. D2 An olde Courtier that best knew the tricks on't, was mumbling of a Cunnie in a corner alone by himselfe.

1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Cony, a silly Fellow.

1736 N. Bailey et al. Dictionarium Britannicum (ed. 2) Tom-Cony, (with the Vulgar) a very silly fellow.

1873 Long Ago Aug. 249/1 ‘Coney-court’, now Gray's Inn-square, may have been often resorted to for redress by the plundered Conies.

1904 C. S. Alden in B. Jonson Bartholmew Fayre 174 The Coney was the dupe, the gull, the victim of the cony-catcher.

2002 C. Sullivan Rhetoric of Credit iii. 50 The reader has the smug certainty that he would never be as foolish as the cony..and that he is up to the mark in the latest chicanery.

Compounds

C1. General attributive in senses of branch I.

a. Of or relating to a coney (in various senses).Recorded earliest in coney-cheaping n. at Compounds 3. See also coneygarth n., coney warren n., etc.

ΚΠ

?a1325 ( in H. T. Riley Munimenta Gildhallæ Londoniensis (1860) II. 344 (MED) De Paternosterlane usque Conichepynge [in the neighbourhood of St Paul's].

1439–40 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. Nov. 1439 §50. m. 3 All maner of hides, calves skynnes, connyngfell.

a1475 Dis. Hawk (Harl. 2340) f. 35^v, in Middle Eng. Dict. at Coning Of An har fote or of A Cony fote.

a1500 (a1451) in Ld. Clermont Wks. J. Fortescue (1869) I. 554 (MED) 8 Conyfell.

1600 N. Breton Pasquils Mad-cap 41 And bid Play-writers better spend their spirites, Than in Fox-borowes, or in Cony ferrits.

a1643 W. Cartwright Lady-errant v. i, in Comedies (1651) sig. e4^v We must carry..Bird-Cages And Cony-Coopes.

1714 tr. French Bk. of Rates 224 Coney-Wool or Hair, which the Hatters and other Dealers bring from Foreign Parts.

1722 Game Law: Pt. I (ed. 6) App. 52 The Cross-Bows, Hays, Cony-Nets, Tunnels, [etc.].

1878 R. Browning La Saisiaz in La Saisiaz: Two Poets of Croisic 42 Classed Once more among the cony-kind.

a1910 W. F. Butler Autobiogr. (1911) xx. 360 The naked children ran like little black rabbits in a coney hutch.

1968 Canad. Geogr. Jrnl. Feb. 72/3 The quantity of hay [which the Little Coney or pika stores away] in the coney barns varies from what might fill a peck measure to a huge armful.

2009 A. Johnson Vow of Seduction xv. 269 Several coney pelts were piled up next to an ash-filled fire pit in the middle of the clearing.

b. Cookery. In sense 3, esp. in coney pie.

ΚΠ

c1630 T. Dekker et al. Welsh Embassador (1920) 69 Pud trigs vppon a welse man yes when can tell does her masesty invite to fine seere of Cunny pies.

1685 tr. M. Alemán Spanish Rogue i. ix. 47 I found, amongst other refuse things, the shank-bone of a Heifer, which I neatly wrapt in the Paste, that it seemed a very fair Coney-pie.

1824 C. R. Forrester Castle Baynard i. 2 How thou didst gobble up the coney pie while we were laughing.

1879 W. H. Dixon Royal Windsor I. xxv. 258 Coney pie, hart pie, roe pie, are heaped on the board.

2005 J. Gavron Acre of Barren Ground 281 The rabbits would make a break for it and the boys would hit them with their sticks and everyone would eat coney stew for supper that night.

(a)

coney fur n.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > skin or hide > skin with hair attached or fur > [noun] > of rabbit

coneya1200

coney skinc1450

coney fur1597

coney wool1630

Angora1763

flick1812

rabbit1906

bunny1950

chinchilla1959

1597 in D. Yaxley Researcher's Gloss. Hist. Documents E. Anglia (2003) 58 One ould cunnyfer bedd.

1600 N. Breton Pasquils Mistresse sig. G^v A thousand gownes are surd with Cony furre.

1708 J. Chamberlayne Magnæ Britanniæ Notitia (ed. 22) i. iv. 34 England produceth..Wax, Tallow, Coney-Furs.

1844 J. Backhouse Narr. Visit Mauritius & S. Afr. xxiii. 52 Enveloped in a karross of Coney-fur.

1942 Billboard 30 May 76/1 (advt.) Pieced Seal Dyed Coney Fur Jackets.

2000 R. Trezise In & out of Goldfish Bowl (2001) i. 11 The white and fawn coney-fur coats he'd bought for my mother over the past seventeen years.

coney skin n.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > skin or hide > skin with hair attached or fur > [noun] > of rabbit

coneya1200

coney skinc1450

coney fur1597

coney wool1630

Angora1763

flick1812

rabbit1906

bunny1950

chinchilla1959

c1450 in J. C. Tingey Rec. City of Norwich (1910) II. 235 C conynskynnys.

1459 Inventory Fastolf's Wardrobe in Paston Lett. (1904) III. 181 Item, j redde panne of kinyng skynnys.

a1500 in N. S. B. Gras Early Eng. Customs Syst. (1918) 192 An hundred conyne skynns.

1664 S. Pepys Diary 15 Oct. (1971) V. 298 I find that a coney-skin in my breeches preserves me perfectly from galling.

1728 Stamford Mercury 4 Apr. 106/1 Goods Exported..11100 Coney Skins.

1857 Let. 20 July in Ann. Rep. Foreign Commerce (U.S. Senate, 35th Congr., 1st Sess.) (1858) 134 The rate for shaving 100 cony skins has been advanced ¼ florin.

1940 C. M. B. Older Love Stories of Old Calif. vii. 94 Gladly she put away her tule skirt and the little mantle of coney skin.

2000 G. Gilman Cloud & Ashes (2009) i. 1 In his pack are bacca pipes, new ones, white as bones, and snuff and coney-skins and cards.

† coney-white n. [white n. 9] Obsolete

ΚΠ

1619 T. Middleton Triumphs Loue & Antiq. sig. D Cony white, Yellow, Black must haue a Name.

a1627 T. Middleton & W. Rowley Old Law (1656) iii. 38 Oh this same cunny white takes an excellent black.

(b) Made of coney fur or skin, as coney coat, etc. Cf. sense 1.

ΚΠ

1833 Boston Courier 28 Nov. (advt.) Also—6 cases Coney Hats.

1843 Accts. & Papers (House of Commons) LIX. 177 1⁷/ ₁₂ dozen coney hats.

1907 Automobile 28 Nov. 818/2 A fifty-four inch white Coney coat lined with white satin.

1978 M. Moorcock Gloriana xv. 164 The gagtoothed knave, Quire's lieutenant, in his coney cap and his overlarge leather greatcoat.

2000 M. J. Carr Grains of Sand xv. 289 Why do you think you'll need this and your coney coat in Spain in the middle of summer?

C2. Objective. See also coney-catcher n.

coney-stealer n. now historical and rare

ΚΠ

1629 J. Shirley Wedding ii. i. sig. D2 There are Cony-stealers abroad sir.

1677 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Oxford-shire 209 The very Cony-stealers that were abroad that night..for hast..left their Ferret in the Cony-boroughs behind them.

1832 W. Scott in Woodstock (rev. ed.) App. to Introd. p. xxix This night it happened that there were six cony-stealers, who were come with their nets and ferrets to the cony-burrows by Rosamond's Well.

1899 T. F. Kirby Wykeham's Reg. II. 149 Monition for deer and coney stealers in the bishop's park and warren at Fareham.

1905 M. Bateson Rec. Borough Leicester III. ccclxii. 339 Has received Beaumont's letter on certain coney stealers.

C3.

† coney-cheaping n. Obsolete rare a market selling rabbits.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > trading place > market > [noun] > market-place > for sale of food > for sale of meat or fish

coney-cheaping?a1325

flesh-shamblesa1410

shamblesa1410

poultry1423

butcher rowa1425

poultry market1437

flesh-market1535

fish-shambles1601

Smithfield1647

piscary1706

meat market1722

fish-market-

fish-street-

?a1325Conichepynge [see Compounds 1a].

† coney-clapper n. [ < coney n.¹ + clapper n.²] Obsolete a rabbit burrow.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Lagomorpha (rabbits and hares) > [noun] > family Leporidae > genus Oryctolagus (rabbit) > burrow or warren

clapperc1400

cunnigar1424

warrena1425

coneygarth1429

coney-close?1472

coney hole?c1475

berry1486

coney holda1500

coney-clapper1530

coney yard1532

coneyry1570

coney burrow1575

coney gratec1580

coney-gat1591

coney green1599

coney warren1616

coney ground1617

rabbit hole1667

stop1669

rabbit burrow1723

stock1736

rabbit warren1766

stab1838

warrener1864

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 208/1 Cony hole or clapar, taisniere.

1572 T. Wilson Disc. Vsurye f. 100^v The poore gentleman is caught in the Cony clapper.

1672 T. Manley Clerks Guide ii. 354 And at the end, &c. to leave the Berry and Coney-clappers sufficiently covered with thorn, and also the same ground and Berry of Conies sufficiently replenished and stored with Conies, Covenants for enjoying, &c.

1761 J. Mordant Compl. Steward II. 293 And also at the end or sooner determination of this demise, leave the berry and coney-clappers sufficiently covered with thorn, furz, heath, or such other cover as the said ground or warren naturally, or is prone by nature and quality to produce.

† coney-close n. Obsolete a rabbit warren.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Lagomorpha (rabbits and hares) > [noun] > family Leporidae > genus Oryctolagus (rabbit) > burrow or warren

clapperc1400

cunnigar1424

warrena1425

coneygarth1429

coney-close?1472

coney hole?c1475

berry1486

coney holda1500

coney-clapper1530

coney yard1532

coneyry1570

coney burrow1575

coney gratec1580

coney-gat1591

coney green1599

coney warren1616

coney ground1617

rabbit hole1667

stop1669

rabbit burrow1723

stock1736

rabbit warren1766

stab1838

warrener1864

?1472 E. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 635 Yt happyd hym..in þe konynere-closse.

1769 J. Wallis Nat. Hist. Northumberland I. i. 230 A close, called, The coney-close.

† coney-gat n. [ < coney n.¹ + gate n.¹ (compare forms at that entry)] Obsolete rare a rabbit burrow.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Lagomorpha (rabbits and hares) > [noun] > family Leporidae > genus Oryctolagus (rabbit) > burrow or warren

clapperc1400

cunnigar1424

warrena1425

coneygarth1429

coney-close?1472

coney hole?c1475

berry1486

coney holda1500

coney-clapper1530

coney yard1532

coneyry1570

coney burrow1575

coney gratec1580

coney-gat1591

coney green1599

coney warren1616

coney ground1617

rabbit hole1667

stop1669

rabbit burrow1723

stock1736

rabbit warren1766

stab1838

warrener1864

1591 G. Peele Speeches to Q. Eliz in Wks. (1861) (modernized text) 579 This weasel-monger, who is no better than a cat in a house or a ferret in a cony-gat.

coney ground n. now historical and rare a rabbit warren.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Lagomorpha (rabbits and hares) > [noun] > family Leporidae > genus Oryctolagus (rabbit) > burrow or warren

clapperc1400

cunnigar1424

warrena1425

coneygarth1429

coney-close?1472

coney hole?c1475

berry1486

coney holda1500

coney-clapper1530

coney yard1532

coneyry1570

coney burrow1575

coney gratec1580

coney-gat1591

coney green1599

coney warren1616

coney ground1617

rabbit hole1667

stop1669

rabbit burrow1723

stock1736

rabbit warren1766

stab1838

warrener1864

1617 J. Minsheu Ἡγεμὼν είς τὰς γλῶσσας: Ductor in Linguas Conie-catcher..taken from those that vse to robbe Warrens and Conie grounds.

a1637 B. Jonson Newes from New World 41 in Wks. (1640) III Forrests, Parks, Coney-ground, Meadow-pasture.

1784 Hist. Proc. & Deb. House of Commons XV. 182 An honourable baronet had said, that the owners of warrens in Norfolk would..convert their coney grounds into arable lands.

1885 W. Wheater Old Yorks. 2nd Ser. 173 All labourers, servants, and grooms, having greyhounds and other dogs, and who on feast-days,..congregate to hunt in parks, warrens, and coney-grounds.

1951 Month Sept. 172 Conies from Sir Christopher Hatton's coney ground were running in and out of the church.

coney man n. now historical and rare a dealer in rabbits.

ΚΠ

1529 in A. F. Johnston & M. Rogerson Rec. Early Eng. Drama: York (1979) I. 250 Euery common Cony man yat brynges Conys to this City to selle vj d by yere.

1590 Extract Reg. Church of Holy Trinity, Hull in Yorks. Archæol. Jrnl. (1898) 14 197 John Blagbrowgh, Conneyman.

1874 Q. Rev. 137 18 Content to entrust their letters..to a coneyman who came from London to buy rabbits.

1892 Edinb. Rev. July 235 All letters were conveyed to and fro by a ‘coneyman’ who visited the island at short intervals to buy rabbits for the London markets.

1956 M. C. Barnes Mary of Carisbrooke xi. 103 The few letters we wrote before you all came were taken across by the coney man who sells our rabbits in the mainland markets.

† coney pear n. Obsolete rare a variety of pear with soft flesh.

ΚΠ

1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique iii. xlix. 537 Tender and delicate peares, such as..the little conie peare [Fr. conillart].

† coney-vaulted adj. Obsolete rare having a winding cavity, like a rabbit burrow.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > shape > curvature > series of curves > [adjective] > having many or winding curves > like a maze or labyrinth

forwrinked14..

mazy1579

coney-vaulted1585

labyrinthian1588

mazelike1596

labyrinth-like1601

Daedalian1607

labyrinthine1632

cuniculous1634

labyrinthed1641

labyrinthala1661

labyrinthiform1805

daedal1818

meandriform1857

mazed1920

1585 J. Banister Wecker's Compend. Chyrurg. iii. 492 Deepe, cunniuaulted, or cauernous vlcers..make many turninges and fouldinges, out of sight.

† coney yard n. [probably attested earlier as a field name; compare Conyngyerd', Halton, Cheshire (1487; 1507 as Conygarth, 1650 as Cony-Greene Close; now lost)] Obsolete (historical in later use) a rabbit warren.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Lagomorpha (rabbits and hares) > [noun] > family Leporidae > genus Oryctolagus (rabbit) > burrow or warren

clapperc1400

cunnigar1424

warrena1425

coneygarth1429

coney-close?1472

coney hole?c1475

berry1486

coney holda1500

coney-clapper1530

coney yard1532

coneyry1570

coney burrow1575

coney gratec1580

coney-gat1591

coney green1599

coney warren1616

coney ground1617

rabbit hole1667

stop1669

rabbit burrow1723

stock1736

rabbit warren1766

stab1838

warrener1864

1532 in W. P. Baildon Black Bks. (Rec. Soc. Lincoln's Inn) (1897) I. i. 233 None of the Companye shall bere hys bow bent withyn the Cony yard, nor hunt nor kyll any Conys, apon payn of xld.

1539–40 Bks. Court Augmentations in J. Gairdner & R. H. Brodie Lett. & Papers Reign Henry VIII (1896) (modernized text) XV. 567 Robt. Southwell,..with the coney-yard and the right of fishing and hawking in Bermondsey and Rederyghe marshes.

1647 L. Haward Charges Crown Revenue 41 For keeping the Cony-Yard, Fee: 18l. 5s. 0d.

1663 in Cal. State Papers, Domest. Ser., Charles II, 1663–4 (1862) (modernized text) 45 Grant to George Kirk of the office of keeping the King's palace called York Place, [Whitehall], with the great garden and orchards, bowling alleys and coney yard near the Cockpit.

1753 Act confirming Exchange between Prebend of Stillington & S. Croft 2 All Coney-yards, Coney-grees, with the whole Profits and Advantages of Conies there.

1860 R. F. Williams Domest. Mem. Royal Family II. v. 128 For the coney yard 18l. 5s.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2014; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	coney
释义	coneyn.¹ Brit. /ˈkəʊni/, U.S. /ˈkoʊni/ Inflections: Plural conies, coneys. Forms: α. Middle English conyn, Middle English conyne, Middle English cunin, Middle English konyn, Middle English konyne, 1500s cunnin; Scottish pre-1700 1700s– kinnen, 1800s– kyunnen (Shetland), 1900s– kionnen (Shetland), 1900s– kjunin (Shetland), 1900s– kjunnin (Shetland), 1900s– kunnin (Orkney), 1900s– kyoneen (Shetland), 1900s– kyonin (Shetland). β. Middle English coninges (plural), Middle English connyng, Middle English connynges (plural), Middle English conyng, Middle English conynge, Middle English cunyng, Middle English kinyng, Middle English konyng, Middle English kuning, 1500s cunninges (plural); Scottish pre-1700 coning, pre-1700 conyng, pre-1700 cunning, pre-1700 cunnyng, pre-1700 cunyng, pre-1700 cwyning, pre-1700 cwynyng, pre-1700 kynning, pre-1700 1800s cuning, 1700s–1800s kinning; N.E.D. (1891) also records a form Middle English conninge. γ. Middle English conig, Middle English connygez (plural), Middle English cunig. δ. Middle English conees (plural), Middle English cones (plural), Middle English (in a late copy) conies (plural), Middle English kuynys (plural), Middle English–1600s coni- (in compounds), Middle English–1600s conye, Middle English– coney, Middle English– cony, 1500s coneye, 1500s connes (plural), 1500s counnies (plural), 1500s cunni- (in compounds), 1500s cunnies (plural), 1500s konys (plural), 1500s–1600s conie, 1500s–1600s connie, 1500s–1600s connye, 1500s–1600s cunney, 1500s–1600s cunnie, 1500s–1600s 1800s conny, 1500s–1700s conney, 1500s–1800s (1900s– Irish English (northern)) cunny, 1600s conni- (in compounds), 1600s cunie, 1700s cooney, 1700s cunne- (in compounds), 1800s– connies (Scottish, plural). Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymons: French conin; French coni; French coniz. Etymology: Partly (i) < Anglo-Norman and Old French conin, Old French, Middle French connin, Middle French counin (French connin ) rabbit (12th cent.; also in Anglo-Norman as conynge, coning, coninge, couning), alteration (with suffix substitution: compare -in -ine suffix¹) of Anglo-Norman conel , cunil , Anglo-Norman and Old French conil , connil (see below); partly (ii) < Anglo-Norman coni, conie, conig, analogical singular of cunis , coniz , conys , plural (see below); and partly (iii) directly < Anglo-Norman coniz, conys, Anglo-Norman and Old French cunis, Old French connis (12th cent.; compare Old French conilz ), plural of Anglo-Norman conel , cunil , Anglo-Norman and Old French conil , Old French connil (Middle French, French connil ) rabbit (12th cent.) < classical Latin cunīculus rabbit (also burrow, underground passage, military mine), in post-classical Latin frequently denoting the skin or fur of a rabbit (from 12th cent. in British sources); according to ancient authors (e.g. Pliny) a word of Spanish origin; the ending may show -culus -culus suffix. Compare post-classical Latin coninus, cuninus (from 12th cent. in British sources), coningus, cunningus (from 13th cent. in British sources).Historical background. Although there is archaeological evidence to suggest that rabbits existed in Britain before the last ice age and that some attempt may have been made to reintroduce them in the Roman period, the rabbit appears to have been unknown to the Anglo-Saxons, and only successfully re-established in Norman times: it has no native name in Celtic or Germanic (Welsh cwning (collective plural) (14th cent.) is from Middle English; Irish coinnín and Scottish Gaelic coinean are from Middle English or Anglo-Norman). Documentary sources indicate that rabbits were farmed on islands off the mainland of England in the 12th cent. and on the mainland from the early 13th cent.; it is notable that the word coney n.¹ occurs in English earlier with reference to the fur (perhaps imported) than to the animal. Potentially anachronistic attestation in Anglo-Saxon charter bounds. It has been suggested that the word appears as the first element of the toponym conigraue (second element: grove n.) in the Anglo-Saxon bounds of Marksbury, Somerset, as recorded in a mid 14th-cent. copy of a charter of 936:c1340 ( Bounds (Sawyer 431) in S. E. Kelly Charters of Glastonbury Abbey (2012) 355 On radanforde, þanen endlang brokes on conigraue est and northward, þanen on ryȝte to wedergraue suthward.This potentially anachronistic early attestation of coney n.¹ has been taken as evidence either that the boundary clause is post-Conquest in origin or that the original survey has been updated or revised. (It is noteworthy that the brook mentioned in close proximity to conigraue is now known as Conygre Brook , the first element of which is clearly a form of cunnigar n. ‘rabbit warren’.) It has alternatively been suggested that the bounds may after all be pre-Conquest, but that the manuscript form may result from a post-Conquest scribal error (perhaps influenced by the later name of the brook) for comgraue ( < coomb n.² + grove n.; compare Comegrave* , Staffordshire (1086; now Congreve)), an interpretation which is apparently supported by the local topography. See further S. E. Kelly Charters of Glastonbury Abbey (2012) 357–8. Parallels in the Romance languages. With Old French conil , etc., compare Old Occitan conilh (1200), conil (1268), Catalan conill (14th cent.), Spanish conejo (1263 or earlier), Portuguese coelho (1102 as †conelio ), Italian coniglio (1353). Forms in the Germanic languages. Old French conin was also borrowed into other Germanic languages; compare Middle Dutch conin , conijn (1240, Dutch konijn ), Middle Low German konīn , kanīn , early modern German kanein , kanin (mid 15th cent.; compare German Kaninchen , diminutive). Compare also Old High German cōnol (12th cent.; < Old French conil ). Development of individual senses. In sense 5 ultimately rendering Hebrew šāpān rock hyrax. Pronunciation history. The historical pronunciation is with /ʌ/ or /ʊ/, as indicated by the early spellings in -u- ; from the 16th to the 18th cent., δ. forms of the word are regularly rhymed in verse with honey n. and money n. (compare e.g. ?1548 and a1637 at sense 3, 1661 at sense 9, etc., and the common spelling coney ; see further forms and discussion at cunny n.). The usual current pronunciation with long ō ( /əʊ/) seems to have become established during the course of the 19th cent., and may in part be a spelling pronunciation reflecting the rarity of the word in general use in standard English at this date, when it may have been most familiar to many from use in the Bible (and especially in the Psalms) as the name of a foreign animal (sense 5). However, this pronunciation is likely to have been reinforced by the desire to avoid association with cunt n. and related words (compare cunny n.), especially in a religious context. While Walker (1791, at cony) records only the pronunciation with /ʌ/, Smart (1836) asserts that, although the word is ‘familiarly pronounced’ in this way, the pronunciation with ō is the ‘regular pronunciation..proper for solemn reading’. I. Senses relating to the rabbit. 1. a. The skin or fur of the rabbit; a rabbit skin.Repopularized as a term of the fur trade in the late 19th cent.; rare (historical or regional) in the 18th and early 19th centuries. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > skin or hide > skin with hair attached or fur > [noun] > of rabbit coneya1200 coney skinc1450 coney fur1597 coney wool1630 Angora1763 flick1812 rabbit1906 bunny1950 chinchilla1959 a1200 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Trin. Cambr.) 365 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 231 (MED) Ne sal þar ben foh, ne grai, ne cunin [a1225 Egerton kuning, ?c1250 Egerton cunig, a1300 Jesus Oxf. konyng], ne ermine. c1436 Domesday Ipswich (BL Add. 25011) in T. Twiss Black Bk. Admiralty (1873) II. 191 Eche c. of lambrys skynnys, bogee, conyns, foxis, cattyn, and of alle other maner skynnes passyng out of the lond. c1524 in J. Nichols Illustr. Antient Times Eng. (1797) 124 A rosset old gowne with old blak conney. 1559 in Proc. Suffolk Inst. Archaeol. & Nat. Hist. (1874) 4 178 To Eliz., wife to her son John Barnardiston,..her gown of cloth, faced with black conies. 1595 P. Henslowe Diary 27 Aug. (1961) 37 A manes gowne of purpell coller cloth face w^th conney. a1625 J. Fletcher Noble Gentleman v. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Ff2/2 A quiver of your graces linde with Cunney. a1641 J. Smyth Berkeley MSS (1883) I. 305 All of them of cloth, and furred with Coney. 1680 S. G. tr. Royal Charter Charles II. City of London 231 Gloves lined with Coney or Lamb-Skins. a1823 J. N. Johnson Life T. Linacre (1835) v. 262 He..appointed William Page..the overseer of his will, with a bequest to him of his gown of violet engrayned and furred with black coney. 1873 N.-Y. Times 5 Oct. 6/4 (advt.) Children's furs of every description, including White and Silver-Gray Coney. 1877 E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs. Conies, rabbit-skins. 1905 Washington Post 13 Nov. 7/3 A very stylish red coat of extra flne cloth is lined with coney and ermine. 1979 H. Hood Reservoir Ravine 1 16 A certain youthful tweed coat in all-wool fancy material with..shaded coney at collar and cuffs. 2009 M. Hayward Rich Apparel iv. 102 The darker the fur, the more highly they were prized, so making black coney, black lamb or budge and black genettes all in demand. b. Originally U.S. An item of clothing made of rabbit fur or skin. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [noun] > made from specific material > skin > types of coney1855 sealskin1858 mutation mink1942 1855 P. T. Barnum Life 99 If a ‘pedler’ wanted to trade with us for a box of beaver hats,..he was sure to obtain a box of ‘coneys’. 1930 Daily News (Perth) 25 Oct. Short white coneys trimmed with real ermine tails for evening wear were only £6 6s. 1951 Life 3 Dec. 83 For the innocent fur shopper, lost in the jungle of ‘mink-dyed Baltic coneys’, here is some timely advice on how to keep from getting skinned. 1982 Daily Mail 7 Dec. 12 (advt.) Our range starts from budget-priced coneys. 2. A rabbit. Now chiefly regional. a. As hunted, bred, sold, or prepared for food. Also as a mass noun. [In quot. a1350 a punning allusion to Peter Conyng , the name in English of Pieter de Coninck (c1225–1333; with the surname compare Middle Dutch coninc king n.), Flemish weaver and leader of a popular rebellion against French rule of Flanders; compare branch III.] ΚΠ a1350 in R. H. Robbins Hist. Poems 14th & 15th Cent. (1959) 11 (MED) We shule flo þe Conyng & make roste is loyne; Þe word shal springen of him in to coloyne. c1350 Nominale (Cambr. Ee.4.20) in Trans. Philol. Soc. (1906) 21* Deym deyme et conyz, Buk doo and conye. a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 182 Whanne he went hom..he com him-self y-charged wiþ conyng & hares. a1425 (a1399) Forme of Cury (BL Add.) 27 in C. B. Hieatt & S. Butler Curye on Inglysch (1985) 103 Take connynges and smyte hem on pecys. 1466 in Manners & Househ. Expenses Eng. (1841) 435 Item, for a shulder of motone, a brest, and a cony, viij.d. 1560 J. Heywood Fourth Hundred Epygrams xv. sig. Avi^v Thou sellest..conies in this pultry shoppe. 1572 (a1500) Taill of Rauf Coilȝear (1882) 209 Of Capounis and Cunningis they had plentie. 1591 J. Lyly Endimion v. ii. sig. H4^v I preferre an olde Cony before a Rabbet sucker, and an ancient henne before a younge chicken peeper. 1655 T. Moffett & C. Bennet Healths Improvem. ix. 76 The Romans, who fatned young Hares in clappers, as we do Connies. 1687 J. Shirley Accomplished Ladies Rich Closet of Rarities vii. 52 In unlacing a Coney. Turn the belly upwards, cutting the belly-pieces from the Kidneys. 1724 Johnie Armstrang in A. Ramsay Ever Green II. 191 Make Kinnen and Capon ready then, And Venison in great Plenty. 1751 T. Smollett Peregrine Pickle II. lii. 118 The dish had a particular rankness of taste, which he had imputed partly to the nature of the French coney, and partly to the composition of their sauces. 1785 South Cave Inclos. Act. 33 No person shall turn out or stock with conies or rabbits any part of the lands. a1839 W. M. Praed Poems (1864) I. 133 And filled her kitchen every day With leverets and conies. 1867 Wigan Observer 23 Feb. Two young men..were charged with trespassing in search of coneys. 1905 W. G. Eley Retrievers & Retrieving i. 42 The wild coney must not be our prey. 1975 I. S. Rombauer & M. R. Becker Joy of Cooking (rev. ed.) 513/1 With protein so sought after, we may all become more interested in having a colony of coneys nearby from which to make Hasenpfeffer. 1983 V. S. Reid Nanny-town xxii. 202 We were also hunting coney and wild pig. 1989 O. Senior Arrival of Snake-woman 32 I would..hunt birds and coneys and hogs in the woods. b. gen. In early use often: spec. (more fully old coney) an adult rabbit; a rabbit over a year old.Rabbit was originally a name for the young animal only: see rabbit n.¹ 1a. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Lagomorpha (rabbits and hares) > [noun] > family Leporidae > genus Oryctolagus (rabbit) coneyc1430 rabbit1502 bunny1699 pussy1715 mappie1825 map1866 drummer1894 flopsy bunny1909 underground mutton1946 c1430 (c1380) G. Chaucer Parl. Fowls (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1871) l. 193 The litele conyes to here pley gunne hye. Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 421 Rabet, yonge conye, cunicellus. a1450 (c1400) in D. M. Grisdale 3 Middle Eng. Serm. (1939) 78 (MED) Þe lion, whan a is an-hungred, a wil nat gladliche tak a litel beste, as an har or a konyng. 1532 Romaunt Rose in Wks. G. Chaucer f. cxxxv/2 Connes there were also playenge That comyn out of her clapers. 1572 J. Higgins Huloets Dict. (rev. ed.) Rabet, or yonge conye. 1575 G. Gascoigne Noble Arte Venerie lxiii. 178 The Conie beareth hyr Rabettes .xxx. dayes. 1597 A. Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 18 I sawe the Cunnin [ed. 2 Cunning] and the cat, Quhais downes with the dewe was wat. 1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Counilleau, a young Rabbet, little young Connie. 1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. vii. 132 A conie, 1 [year] a Rabett, and after an old Cony. 1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Old-Coney, after the first Year. 1735 Sportsman's Dict. II. sig. Ss4^v/1 A coney is called the first year a rabbet, and afterwards an old coney. 1740 S. Johnson Drake in Gentleman's Mag. Dec. 600 Holes like those of Conies. 1759 S. Johnson Rasselas I. xiii. 93 The conies, which the rain had driven from their burrows, had taken shelter among the bushes. 1820 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. June 507/2 L. cuniculus. Rabbit... E. Coney. S. Kinnen. The rabbit is common in Scotland and the islands. 1848 E. Bulwer-Lytton Harold III. xii. i. 250 You might see..the hares and conies stealing forth to sport or to feed. 1867 E. Sauter tr. F. von Hochstetter New Zealand 161 It..is of the size of a large cony with a glossy brown fur. 1885 R. Buchanan Annan Water viii Conies, like elfin things, gambolled in the grass before her. 1958 Boys' Life Nov. 86/4 In the complete silence that followed her going, the conys crouching in their earth ceased to tremble. 1993 I. Macleod & P. Cairns Conc. Eng.-Scots Dict. Rabbit, kinnen, kyunnen. 1997 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 16 Jan. 1 The humble cony or European rabbit..has become a major pest throughout The Hills district of Sydney's north-west. c. A young rabbit. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Lagomorpha (rabbits and hares) > [noun] > family Leporidae > genus Oryctolagus (rabbit) > young rabbita1398 rabbit-suckera1475 rabbit-starter1651 squab1838 coney1876 1876 C. C. Robinson Gloss. Words Dial. Mid-Yorks. Coney, usually applied to a young rabbit. 1911 H. W. Ruoff Conc. Graded Repository Pract. & Cultural Knowl. 233/2 Young rabbit; cony. 3. The flesh of a rabbit as food. Now chiefly regional. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > game > [noun] > flesh of rabbit or hare coneya1450 wingc1470 underground mutton1946 a1450 in T. Austin Two 15th-cent. Cookery-bks. (1888) 61 Connyng Rostyd. Curlew. Fesaunt Rostyd. a1486 (c1429) Menu Banquet Hen. VI in Archaeologia (1900) 57 57 Cony, Chekyn endored, Partriche. ?1548 J. Bale Comedy Thre Lawes Nature ii. sig. Biiij^v They wyll durty puddynges eate, For wante of befe and conye [rhymes monye, honye, sonnye]. 1584 T. Cogan Hauen of Health cxxxv. 121 Conie..so plentifull a meate in this lande. a1637 B. Jonson Under-woods in Wks. (1640) III. 226 If there be no money, No Plover, or Coney Will come to the Table. c1675 God speed Plow (new ed.) (single sheet) At our Table you may Eat All sorts of Dainty Meat; Pig, Cony, Goose, Capon, and Swan. 1778 Journey Dr. Robert Bongout ii. 15 ‘Hostess, quoth he, what hast to eat?’ ‘Cony, good Sir, and butcher's meat’. 1868 All Year Round 29 Feb. 286/2 With pheasant, partridge, or coney they eat mustard and sugar. 1978 U. K. Le Guin Eye of Heron v, in Millennial Women 186 The supreme moment of the dinner arrived, the meat course, roast coney. 2007 T. Williams Shadowplay vi. 75 And that other, yes, th'un with yellow berries..makes a fine stew with coney or water rat. 4. Chiefly Heraldry. A representation of a rabbit. ΘΚΠ society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > heraldic representations of creatures > [noun] > animals boar1297 leopardc1330 lionc1330 lionceauc1450 unicornc1450 talbot1491 porcupine?a1549 musion1572 tiger1572 lyam-hound1591 coney1598 lioncel1610 lion-leopard1612 lionel1661 marcassin1727 1598 J. Stow Suruay of London 212 A signe of three Conies, hanging ouer a Poulters stall. 1610 J. Guillim Display of Heraldrie iii. xvi. 148 He beareth Argent, three Conies Sable. 1641 J. Yorke Union of Honour Suppl. 18, 3 Conies currant argent. 1765 ‘M. A. Porny’ Elements Heraldry v. 111 The relation of some Creatures, Figures, &c. to particular names, has been likewise a very fruitful source for variety of Arms; thus the family of Coningsby bears three Coneys. 1869 J. E. Cussans Handbk. Heraldry (rev. ed.) vi. 83 A Hare or Rabbit (heraldically termed Coney). 1875 Relquary July 50 A hawk, with wings expanded proper, belled or, preying upon a coney argent. 1908 W. B. Bannerman Miscellanea Genealogica & Heraldica II. 4th ser. 51 A coney sejant argent, on a wreath argent and gules. 1931 Bull. Mus. Fine Arts (Boston) 29 44/1 He usually marked his plate with one of two stamps—his initials, I C, with a cony below in a shield punch or [etc.]. 2005 Derby Evening Tel. (Nexis) 3 Nov. 20 One of the tombs displays a shield of arms, the quarterings of which include that unforgettable ‘canting’ coat of the Hopwells or Hopwell: ‘three conies playing on bagpipes’. II. Senses relating to other animals. 5. A hyrax; esp. (originally in translations of the Bible, later usually with allusion to it) the rock hyrax, Procavia capensis, widespread in Africa and the Middle East. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > [noun] > order Hyracoidea or genus Procavia > procavia capensis (rock rabbit) coneya1425 rock rabbit1809 rock hyrax1903 a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Lev. xi. 5 A cirogrille [L. chyrogryllius], ether a conyng [a1450 Corpus Cambr. or a cony]. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms ciii. [civ.] 18 The hilles are a refuge for the wylde goates, and so are the stony rockes for y^e conyes. 1568 Bible (Bishops') Prov. xxx. 26 The conies are but a feeble folke, yet make their boroughes among the rocks. 1611 Bible (King James) Deut. xiv. 7 The camel, and the hare, and the cony . View more context for this quotation 1834 T. Pringle Afr. Sketches vi. 204 Rocky ravines inhabited by..the das or coney. 1857 D. Livingstone Missionary Trav. S. Afr. 22 A variety of preparations, such as..inspissated renal deposit of the mountain Coney (Hyrax capensis). 1885 Bible (R.V.) Lev. xi. 7 The Coney [margin The Hyrax Syriacus or rock-badger.]. 1891 Daily News 9 Nov. 5/5 Among the novelties lately added to the collection of living animals in the Regent's Park is a coney or hyrax belonging to a different species. 1931 Times Educ. Suppl. 22 Aug. iv/3 Hyraxes, known also as ‘Dassies’, or ‘Rock-rabbits’, the conies of the Bible. 1968 I. W. Cornwall Prehistoric Animals & their Hunters vii. 138 The living hyraxes are of two genera: Procavia, including the biblical ‘coney’ and the ‘dassie’ of South Africa, and Dendrohyrax. 2006 K. D. Rose Beginning Age Mammals xiii. 257/2 The Hyracoidea are represented today by the rabbit-sized dassies or hyraxes of Africa (referred to as conies in the Old Testament). 6. Any of various smaller mammals of the New World; esp. the guinea pig ( Cavia porcellus), the agouti (genus Dasyprocta), and (in recent use) the American pika ( Ochotona princeps). Frequently with distinguishing word. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > [noun] > unspecified types coney1555 hipponesse1619 1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde iii. viii. f. 134^v In the citie of Dominica..connies [L. cuniculos], (whiche they caule Vtias beynge no bygger then myse). 1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 112 The Indian little Pig-Cony..is..more tractable in hand; howbeit vntamable. 1710 Brit. Apollo 4–6 Sept. A Guinea Pig..in Johnston's Natural History goes by the Name of a Spanish Coney. 1796 J. G. Stedman Narr. Exped. Surinam II. xxii. 153 The long-nosed Cavy..or Indian Coney. In Surinam..there is still another species of the Agouti, called the Indian Rat-Coney, on account of its having a long tail. 1898 Outing Jan. 361/2 The jubilant warble of bright-winged birds, the chipper and startled rush of shy Indian conies. 1946 National Geographic Mag. July 65/2 This gives way to treeless savannas and boulder-strewn mountain summits where the shrill-voiced conies, or pikas..live. 2006 B. Filley Discovering Wonders of Wonderland Trail 216 Such slopes are the natural homes of hoary marmots and conies (pikas). 7. Any of several small groupers (fishes) of the Caribbean and West Atlantic; spec. Cephalopholis fulva, which occurs in various colour phases. Cf. coney fish n. 1. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > family Serranidae (sea-bass) > [noun] > member of genus Epinephelus (grouper) rockfish1605 grouper1615 jewfish1679 mero1763 red grouper1822 kingklip1834 coney1884 redbelly1890 1884 G. B. Goode in G. B. Goode et al. Fisheries U.S.: Sect. I 412 The Coney, Epinephelus apua, of Key West, the Hind of Bermuda, is an important food-fish which occurs throughout the West Indies. 1919 Ann. Rep. N.Y. Zool. Soc. 1918 114 (table) Yellow Coney or Butterfish, Bodianus fulvus. 1958 Ecology 39 145/1 The coney (Cephalopholis fulvus) has habits somewhat comparable to those of the hind. 2007 F. Sunquist et al. Florida (new ed.) 450/1 (caption) Coney Epinephelus fulvus. This common small grouper exhibits a wide range of color patterns. III. With reference to a person. Cf. also quot. a1350 at sense 2a. †8. A soldier who constructs underground passages. Obsolete. ΚΠ a1450 ( tr. Vegetius De Re Militari (Douce) f. 107 (MED) Mynoures þat ben cleped here coninges [v.r. conyes]..sometyme þei þat þus myneþ entreth be nyght..in to þe citee. 9. Used as a term of endearment, originally for a woman. Now archaic or literary. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > love > terms of endearment > [noun] > of or to a girl > of or to a woman mousec1525 coneya1529 nobsa1529 muskin1530 mully?1548 carissima1857 chickadee1860 Schatz1907 a1529 J. Skelton Tunnyng of Elynour Rummyng in Certayne Bks. (?1545) sig. D^v He calleth me his whytyng..His nobbes and his conny. a1556 N. Udall Ralph Roister Doister (?1566) i. iv. sig. C.j Ah sweete lambe and coney. 1560 J. Heywood Fourth Hundred Epygrams xv. sig. Avi^v Iane thou sellst sweete conies in this pultry shoppe: But none so sweete as thy selfe, sweete conye moppe. 1598 G. Chapman Blinde Begger of Alexandria v. 37 New fashion terms I like not; for a man To call his wife cony, forsooth, and lamb And pork and mutton, he may as well say. 1613 F. Beaumont Knight of Burning Pestle Prol. sig. B1^v Wife..Husband, husband... Cit. What sayst thou cunny? 1640 R. Brathwait Ar't Asleepe Husband? 47 Pray thee chick, what art' doing? Praying, Coney, said he. For what, Pigs-nie, said shee? 1661 J. Phillips Wit & Drollery 26 My Willy my Billy, my Hony my conny, My love my dove my dear. 1767 ‘A. Barton’ Disappointment i. 25 And can you leave me so soon, my dear Cooney? 1820 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. July 439 And, so my loving Joan, my dear—dear, Cony. 1823 ‘J. Bee’ Slang 106 Ironing—i. e. Irony; e. g. ‘Bill Noon, you are one of the best in all England, for nollidje and for larning.’ ‘Nay, nay, my Coney, now you're ironing me—all down the back.’ 1933 W. H. Auden Poems (ed. 2) 58 What's in your mind, my dove, my coney. 2001 M. L. Settle I, Roger Williams xiii. 158 My little Puritan coney, my pretty boy, thou hast naught but these. 10. The victim or target of a swindler; a dupe; a gullible person. Now historical.See note at coney-catcher n. 1. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > cheating, fraud > duping, making a fool of > [noun] > gullible person, dupe foola1382 woodcockc1430 geckc1530 cousinc1555 cokes1567 milch cow1582 gudgeon1584 coney1591 martin1591 gull1594 plover1599 rook1600 gull-finch1604 cheatee1615 goata1616 whirligig1624 chouse1649 coll1657 cully1664 bubble1668 lamb1668 Simple Simon?1673 mouth1680 dupe1681 cull1698 bub1699 game1699 muggins1705 colour1707 milk cow1727 flat1762 gulpin1802 slob1810 gaggee1819 sucker1838 hoaxee1840 softie1850 foozle1860 lemon1863 juggins1882 yob1886 patsy1889 yapc1894 fall guy1895 fruit1895 meemaw1895 easy mark1896 lobster1896 mark1896 wise guy1896 come-on1897 pushover1907 John1908 schnookle1908 Gretchen1913 jug1914 schnook1920 soft touch1924 prospect1931 steamer1932 punter1934 dill1941 Joe Soap1943 possum1945 Moreton Bay1953 easy touch1959 1591 R. Greene Notable Discouery of Coosenage f. 8^v In Conny-catching Law. He that is coosened [is called] the Conny. 1592 ‘C. Cony-Catcher’ Def. Conny-catching sig. B4 An old Cony-catcher..that could lurtch a poore Conie of so many thousands at one time. 1607 E. Sharpham Fleire ii. sig. D2 An olde Courtier that best knew the tricks on't, was mumbling of a Cunnie in a corner alone by himselfe. 1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Cony, a silly Fellow. 1736 N. Bailey et al. Dictionarium Britannicum (ed. 2) Tom-Cony, (with the Vulgar) a very silly fellow. 1873 Long Ago Aug. 249/1 ‘Coney-court’, now Gray's Inn-square, may have been often resorted to for redress by the plundered Conies. 1904 C. S. Alden in B. Jonson Bartholmew Fayre 174 The Coney was the dupe, the gull, the victim of the cony-catcher. 2002 C. Sullivan Rhetoric of Credit iii. 50 The reader has the smug certainty that he would never be as foolish as the cony..and that he is up to the mark in the latest chicanery. Compounds C1. General attributive in senses of branch I. a. Of or relating to a coney (in various senses).Recorded earliest in coney-cheaping n. at Compounds 3. See also coneygarth n., coney warren n., etc. ΚΠ ?a1325 ( in H. T. Riley Munimenta Gildhallæ Londoniensis (1860) II. 344 (MED) De Paternosterlane usque Conichepynge [in the neighbourhood of St Paul's]. 1439–40 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. Nov. 1439 §50. m. 3 All maner of hides, calves skynnes, connyngfell. a1475 Dis. Hawk (Harl. 2340) f. 35^v, in Middle Eng. Dict. at Coning Of An har fote or of A Cony fote. a1500 (a1451) in Ld. Clermont Wks. J. Fortescue (1869) I. 554 (MED) 8 Conyfell. 1600 N. Breton Pasquils Mad-cap 41 And bid Play-writers better spend their spirites, Than in Fox-borowes, or in Cony ferrits. a1643 W. Cartwright Lady-errant v. i, in Comedies (1651) sig. e4^v We must carry..Bird-Cages And Cony-Coopes. 1714 tr. French Bk. of Rates 224 Coney-Wool or Hair, which the Hatters and other Dealers bring from Foreign Parts. 1722 Game Law: Pt. I (ed. 6) App. 52 The Cross-Bows, Hays, Cony-Nets, Tunnels, [etc.]. 1878 R. Browning La Saisiaz in La Saisiaz: Two Poets of Croisic 42 Classed Once more among the cony-kind. a1910 W. F. Butler Autobiogr. (1911) xx. 360 The naked children ran like little black rabbits in a coney hutch. 1968 Canad. Geogr. Jrnl. Feb. 72/3 The quantity of hay [which the Little Coney or pika stores away] in the coney barns varies from what might fill a peck measure to a huge armful. 2009 A. Johnson Vow of Seduction xv. 269 Several coney pelts were piled up next to an ash-filled fire pit in the middle of the clearing. b. Cookery. In sense 3, esp. in coney pie. ΚΠ c1630 T. Dekker et al. Welsh Embassador (1920) 69 Pud trigs vppon a welse man yes when can tell does her masesty invite to fine seere of Cunny pies. 1685 tr. M. Alemán Spanish Rogue i. ix. 47 I found, amongst other refuse things, the shank-bone of a Heifer, which I neatly wrapt in the Paste, that it seemed a very fair Coney-pie. 1824 C. R. Forrester Castle Baynard i. 2 How thou didst gobble up the coney pie while we were laughing. 1879 W. H. Dixon Royal Windsor I. xxv. 258 Coney pie, hart pie, roe pie, are heaped on the board. 2005 J. Gavron Acre of Barren Ground 281 The rabbits would make a break for it and the boys would hit them with their sticks and everyone would eat coney stew for supper that night. c. (a) coney fur n. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > skin or hide > skin with hair attached or fur > [noun] > of rabbit coneya1200 coney skinc1450 coney fur1597 coney wool1630 Angora1763 flick1812 rabbit1906 bunny1950 chinchilla1959 1597 in D. Yaxley Researcher's Gloss. Hist. Documents E. Anglia (2003) 58 One ould cunnyfer bedd. 1600 N. Breton Pasquils Mistresse sig. G^v A thousand gownes are surd with Cony furre. 1708 J. Chamberlayne Magnæ Britanniæ Notitia (ed. 22) i. iv. 34 England produceth..Wax, Tallow, Coney-Furs. 1844 J. Backhouse Narr. Visit Mauritius & S. Afr. xxiii. 52 Enveloped in a karross of Coney-fur. 1942 Billboard 30 May 76/1 (advt.) Pieced Seal Dyed Coney Fur Jackets. 2000 R. Trezise In & out of Goldfish Bowl (2001) i. 11 The white and fawn coney-fur coats he'd bought for my mother over the past seventeen years. coney skin n. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > skin or hide > skin with hair attached or fur > [noun] > of rabbit coneya1200 coney skinc1450 coney fur1597 coney wool1630 Angora1763 flick1812 rabbit1906 bunny1950 chinchilla1959 c1450 in J. C. Tingey Rec. City of Norwich (1910) II. 235 C conynskynnys. 1459 Inventory Fastolf's Wardrobe in Paston Lett. (1904) III. 181 Item, j redde panne of kinyng skynnys. a1500 in N. S. B. Gras Early Eng. Customs Syst. (1918) 192 An hundred conyne skynns. 1664 S. Pepys Diary 15 Oct. (1971) V. 298 I find that a coney-skin in my breeches preserves me perfectly from galling. 1728 Stamford Mercury 4 Apr. 106/1 Goods Exported..11100 Coney Skins. 1857 Let. 20 July in Ann. Rep. Foreign Commerce (U.S. Senate, 35th Congr., 1st Sess.) (1858) 134 The rate for shaving 100 cony skins has been advanced ¼ florin. 1940 C. M. B. Older Love Stories of Old Calif. vii. 94 Gladly she put away her tule skirt and the little mantle of coney skin. 2000 G. Gilman Cloud & Ashes (2009) i. 1 In his pack are bacca pipes, new ones, white as bones, and snuff and coney-skins and cards. † coney-white n. [white n. 9] Obsolete ΚΠ 1619 T. Middleton Triumphs Loue & Antiq. sig. D Cony white, Yellow, Black must haue a Name. a1627 T. Middleton & W. Rowley Old Law (1656) iii. 38 Oh this same cunny white takes an excellent black. (b) Made of coney fur or skin, as coney coat, etc. Cf. sense 1. ΚΠ 1833 Boston Courier 28 Nov. (advt.) Also—6 cases Coney Hats. 1843 Accts. & Papers (House of Commons) LIX. 177 1⁷/ ₁₂ dozen coney hats. 1907 Automobile 28 Nov. 818/2 A fifty-four inch white Coney coat lined with white satin. 1978 M. Moorcock Gloriana xv. 164 The gagtoothed knave, Quire's lieutenant, in his coney cap and his overlarge leather greatcoat. 2000 M. J. Carr Grains of Sand xv. 289 Why do you think you'll need this and your coney coat in Spain in the middle of summer? C2. Objective. See also coney-catcher n. coney-stealer n. now historical and rare ΚΠ 1629 J. Shirley Wedding ii. i. sig. D2 There are Cony-stealers abroad sir. 1677 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Oxford-shire 209 The very Cony-stealers that were abroad that night..for hast..left their Ferret in the Cony-boroughs behind them. 1832 W. Scott in Woodstock (rev. ed.) App. to Introd. p. xxix This night it happened that there were six cony-stealers, who were come with their nets and ferrets to the cony-burrows by Rosamond's Well. 1899 T. F. Kirby Wykeham's Reg. II. 149 Monition for deer and coney stealers in the bishop's park and warren at Fareham. 1905 M. Bateson Rec. Borough Leicester III. ccclxii. 339 Has received Beaumont's letter on certain coney stealers. C3. † coney-cheaping n. Obsolete rare a market selling rabbits. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > trading place > market > [noun] > market-place > for sale of food > for sale of meat or fish coney-cheaping?a1325 flesh-shamblesa1410 shamblesa1410 poultry1423 butcher rowa1425 poultry market1437 flesh-market1535 fish-shambles1601 Smithfield1647 piscary1706 meat market1722 fish-market- fish-street- ?a1325Conichepynge [see Compounds 1a]. † coney-clapper n. [ < coney n.¹ + clapper n.²] Obsolete a rabbit burrow. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Lagomorpha (rabbits and hares) > [noun] > family Leporidae > genus Oryctolagus (rabbit) > burrow or warren clapperc1400 cunnigar1424 warrena1425 coneygarth1429 coney-close?1472 coney hole?c1475 berry1486 coney holda1500 coney-clapper1530 coney yard1532 coneyry1570 coney burrow1575 coney gratec1580 coney-gat1591 coney green1599 coney warren1616 coney ground1617 rabbit hole1667 stop1669 rabbit burrow1723 stock1736 rabbit warren1766 stab1838 warrener1864 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 208/1 Cony hole or clapar, taisniere. 1572 T. Wilson Disc. Vsurye f. 100^v The poore gentleman is caught in the Cony clapper. 1672 T. Manley Clerks Guide ii. 354 And at the end, &c. to leave the Berry and Coney-clappers sufficiently covered with thorn, and also the same ground and Berry of Conies sufficiently replenished and stored with Conies, Covenants for enjoying, &c. 1761 J. Mordant Compl. Steward II. 293 And also at the end or sooner determination of this demise, leave the berry and coney-clappers sufficiently covered with thorn, furz, heath, or such other cover as the said ground or warren naturally, or is prone by nature and quality to produce. † coney-close n. Obsolete a rabbit warren. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Lagomorpha (rabbits and hares) > [noun] > family Leporidae > genus Oryctolagus (rabbit) > burrow or warren clapperc1400 cunnigar1424 warrena1425 coneygarth1429 coney-close?1472 coney hole?c1475 berry1486 coney holda1500 coney-clapper1530 coney yard1532 coneyry1570 coney burrow1575 coney gratec1580 coney-gat1591 coney green1599 coney warren1616 coney ground1617 rabbit hole1667 stop1669 rabbit burrow1723 stock1736 rabbit warren1766 stab1838 warrener1864 ?1472 E. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 635 Yt happyd hym..in þe konynere-closse. 1769 J. Wallis Nat. Hist. Northumberland I. i. 230 A close, called, The coney-close. † coney-gat n. [ < coney n.¹ + gate n.¹ (compare forms at that entry)] Obsolete rare a rabbit burrow. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Lagomorpha (rabbits and hares) > [noun] > family Leporidae > genus Oryctolagus (rabbit) > burrow or warren clapperc1400 cunnigar1424 warrena1425 coneygarth1429 coney-close?1472 coney hole?c1475 berry1486 coney holda1500 coney-clapper1530 coney yard1532 coneyry1570 coney burrow1575 coney gratec1580 coney-gat1591 coney green1599 coney warren1616 coney ground1617 rabbit hole1667 stop1669 rabbit burrow1723 stock1736 rabbit warren1766 stab1838 warrener1864 1591 G. Peele Speeches to Q. Eliz in Wks. (1861) (modernized text) 579 This weasel-monger, who is no better than a cat in a house or a ferret in a cony-gat. coney ground n. now historical and rare a rabbit warren. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Lagomorpha (rabbits and hares) > [noun] > family Leporidae > genus Oryctolagus (rabbit) > burrow or warren clapperc1400 cunnigar1424 warrena1425 coneygarth1429 coney-close?1472 coney hole?c1475 berry1486 coney holda1500 coney-clapper1530 coney yard1532 coneyry1570 coney burrow1575 coney gratec1580 coney-gat1591 coney green1599 coney warren1616 coney ground1617 rabbit hole1667 stop1669 rabbit burrow1723 stock1736 rabbit warren1766 stab1838 warrener1864 1617 J. Minsheu Ἡγεμὼν είς τὰς γλῶσσας: Ductor in Linguas Conie-catcher..taken from those that vse to robbe Warrens and Conie grounds. a1637 B. Jonson Newes from New World 41 in Wks. (1640) III Forrests, Parks, Coney-ground, Meadow-pasture. 1784 Hist. Proc. & Deb. House of Commons XV. 182 An honourable baronet had said, that the owners of warrens in Norfolk would..convert their coney grounds into arable lands. 1885 W. Wheater Old Yorks. 2nd Ser. 173 All labourers, servants, and grooms, having greyhounds and other dogs, and who on feast-days,..congregate to hunt in parks, warrens, and coney-grounds. 1951 Month Sept. 172 Conies from Sir Christopher Hatton's coney ground were running in and out of the church. coney man n. now historical and rare a dealer in rabbits. ΚΠ 1529 in A. F. Johnston & M. Rogerson Rec. Early Eng. Drama: York (1979) I. 250 Euery common Cony man yat brynges Conys to this City to selle vj d by yere. 1590 Extract Reg. Church of Holy Trinity, Hull in Yorks. Archæol. Jrnl. (1898) 14 197 John Blagbrowgh, Conneyman. 1874 Q. Rev. 137 18 Content to entrust their letters..to a coneyman who came from London to buy rabbits. 1892 Edinb. Rev. July 235 All letters were conveyed to and fro by a ‘coneyman’ who visited the island at short intervals to buy rabbits for the London markets. 1956 M. C. Barnes Mary of Carisbrooke xi. 103 The few letters we wrote before you all came were taken across by the coney man who sells our rabbits in the mainland markets. † coney pear n. Obsolete rare a variety of pear with soft flesh. ΚΠ 1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique iii. xlix. 537 Tender and delicate peares, such as..the little conie peare [Fr. conillart]. † coney-vaulted adj. Obsolete rare having a winding cavity, like a rabbit burrow. ΘΚΠ the world > space > shape > curvature > series of curves > [adjective] > having many or winding curves > like a maze or labyrinth forwrinked14.. mazy1579 coney-vaulted1585 labyrinthian1588 mazelike1596 labyrinth-like1601 Daedalian1607 labyrinthine1632 cuniculous1634 labyrinthed1641 labyrinthala1661 labyrinthiform1805 daedal1818 meandriform1857 mazed1920 1585 J. Banister Wecker's Compend. Chyrurg. iii. 492 Deepe, cunniuaulted, or cauernous vlcers..make many turninges and fouldinges, out of sight. † coney yard n. [probably attested earlier as a field name; compare Conyngyerd', Halton, Cheshire (1487; 1507 as Conygarth, 1650 as Cony-Greene Close; now lost)] Obsolete (historical in later use) a rabbit warren. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Lagomorpha (rabbits and hares) > [noun] > family Leporidae > genus Oryctolagus (rabbit) > burrow or warren clapperc1400 cunnigar1424 warrena1425 coneygarth1429 coney-close?1472 coney hole?c1475 berry1486 coney holda1500 coney-clapper1530 coney yard1532 coneyry1570 coney burrow1575 coney gratec1580 coney-gat1591 coney green1599 coney warren1616 coney ground1617 rabbit hole1667 stop1669 rabbit burrow1723 stock1736 rabbit warren1766 stab1838 warrener1864 1532 in W. P. Baildon Black Bks. (Rec. Soc. Lincoln's Inn) (1897) I. i. 233 None of the Companye shall bere hys bow bent withyn the Cony yard, nor hunt nor kyll any Conys, apon payn of xld. 1539–40 Bks. Court Augmentations in J. Gairdner & R. H. Brodie Lett. & Papers Reign Henry VIII (1896) (modernized text) XV. 567 Robt. Southwell,..with the coney-yard and the right of fishing and hawking in Bermondsey and Rederyghe marshes. 1647 L. Haward Charges Crown Revenue 41 For keeping the Cony-Yard, Fee: 18l. 5s. 0d. 1663 in Cal. State Papers, Domest. Ser., Charles II, 1663–4 (1862) (modernized text) 45 Grant to George Kirk of the office of keeping the King's palace called York Place, [Whitehall], with the great garden and orchards, bowling alleys and coney yard near the Cockpit. 1753 Act confirming Exchange between Prebend of Stillington & S. Croft 2 All Coney-yards, Coney-grees, with the whole Profits and Advantages of Conies there. 1860 R. F. Williams Domest. Mem. Royal Family II. v. 128 For the coney yard 18l. 5s. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2014; most recently modified version published online June 2022). coneyn.² Brit. /ˈkəʊni/, U.S. /ˈkoʊni/ Forms: 1700s conney, 1700s 1900s– coney. Origin: Apparently formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: cone n.¹, -y suffix⁶. Etymology: Apparently < cone n.¹ + -y suffix⁶. Compare cone n.¹ 5. Now rare or historical. More fully coney shell. A kind of shellfish, apparently a cone shell. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Mollusca > [noun] > miscellaneous types > other types of mollusc squame1393 shell-worm1591 spout-fish1594 pentadactyl1601 sea cucumber1601 pirot1611 worm1621 nun-fish1661 scarlet mussel1672 sea-navel1678 redcap?1711 strawberry cockle1713 sea-finger1748 sea-nail1748 sea-acorn1755 coneya1757 compass1776 bubble shell1818 glass-shell1851 golden comb1857 cryptodont1893 nuculoid1960 a1757 P. H. Bruce Memoirs (1782) xii. 424 Their shell-fish [sc. in the Bahamas] are conques, perriwinkles, coneys, etc. a1769 G. Robertson Discov. Tahiti (1948) 171 One man Brou^t over a curious kind of thing in his hand, made up of several pieces of conney Shells. 1979 P. A. Lanyon-Orgill Captain Cook's South Sea Island Vocab. 80 (table) Necklace (a) of coney shells..Kaffa. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022). coneyn.³ Brit. /ˈkəʊni/, U.S. /ˈkoʊni/ Inflections: Plural coneys. Origin: Formed within English, by clipping or shortening. Etymons: Coney Island n., Coney dog n.² Etymology: Partly short for Coney Island n. and partly (in later use) short for Coney dog n.² U.S. Originally: a hot dog. In later use: spec. = Coney dog n.² ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > sausage > [noun] > types of sausage franchemyle1381 herbelade?c1390 haggisc1400 black puddinga1450 blood puddingc1450 bloodinga1500 liveringa1500 haggis pudding1545 white pudding1578 swine's pudding1579 hog's pudding1583 Bolognian sausage1596 bloodling1598 andouille1605 andouillet1611 cervelat1613 mortadella1613 polony1654 blacking1674 hacking1674 whiting1674 Oxford sausagec1700 saucisson1772 German sausage1773 saveloy1784 blood sausage1799 white hawse1819 liver sausage1820 black pot1825 chipolata1830 Bologna sausage1833 butifarra1836 mettwurst1836 Cambridge sausage1840 boudin1845 chorizo1846 German1847 liverwurst1852 salami1852 station-Jack1853 leberwurst1855 wurst1855 blutwurst1856 bag of mystery1864 Vienna sausage1865 summer sausage1874 wienerwurst1875 mealy pudding1880 whitepot1880 wiener1880 erbswurst1885 pepperoni1888 mystery bag1889 red-hot1890 weenie1891 hot dog1892 frankfurter1894 sav?1894 Coney Island1895 coney1902 garlic sausage1905 boloney1907 kishke1907 drisheen1910 bratwurst1911 banger1919 cocktail sausage1927 boerewors1930 soy sausage1933 thuringer1933 frank1936 fish sausage1937 knackwurst1939 foot-long1941 starver1941 soya sausage1943 soysage1943 soya link1944 brat1949 Vienna1952 kielbasa1953 Coney dog1954 tube steak1963 Weisswurst1963 Cumberland sausage1966 merguez1966 tripe sausage1966 schinkenwurst1967 boerie1981 'nduja1996 1902 Syracuse (N.Y.) Post-Standard 30 May 12 (advt.) Everybody is going to Lakeside Park... Dinners, refreshments, hot coneys, popcorn. 1939 Punch 1 Feb. 123/3 At Coney Island the men..cry their wares in this fashion: ‘Getcha red hot coneys here, folks.’ 1959 Monroe County (Iowa) News 20 Apr. 2/4 Jim enjoys eating coneys and fried chicken. 1997 B. K. Fair Notes of Racial Caste Baby i. 22 On a slow day, Napper's might sell five hundred coneys. At any one time, there were five large pots of boiling water brimming with hot dogs. 2012 K. Yung Coney Detroit Introd. 2 While mastering the art of eating a coney is all about fun, there's more to these hot dogs than what you see on the plate. This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, March 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022). † coneyv. Forms: 1600s cunnie. Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: coney n.¹ Etymology: < coney n.¹ Compare Italian †coniglieggiare (1611 in the quot. below). Obsolete. rare. intransitive. To behave timidly, in a manner likened to a rabbit. ΚΠ 1611 J. Florio Queen Anna's New World of Words Coniglieggiare, to cunnie, to play the cunnie, to bee fearefull and lurke in holes. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2014; most recently modified version published online December 2020). < n.¹a1200n.²a1757n.³1902v.1611
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coneyn.1

Compounds

coneyn.2

coneyn.3

† coneyv.

coneyn.¹

coneyn.²

coneyn.³