cuckoon.

Brit.

/ˈkʊkuː/, U.S.

/ˈkuˌku/,

/ˈkʊˌku/

Forms: Middle English cuccu, Middle English coccou, cockou, Middle English cukkow, cokkow, (Middle English cocow, co-, kockowe, cucko, cauko, kukkowe, Middle English–1500s cuckowe, 1500s cocowe, cokowe, cokoue, koko, kookoo, cokow, coockow; Scottish gukkow, gukgo guk-guk; 1500s–1600s cuckoe, 1600s cukcow, cockow, ( cocoe), Middle English–1800s cuckow, 1600s– cuckoo.

Etymology: Identical with French coucou (12–15th cent. cucu), imitating the cry of the bird. The Old English name was géac , rare Middle English ȝeke , cognate with German gauch , Old Norse gaukr , whence Scots and north English gowk n. In many languages a tendency has been shown from time to time to abandon inherited forms of this bird's name, which, even though originally echoic, have under the operation of phonetic changes gradually ceased to be so, in order to go back anew to the call of the bird. Thus, since the 15th cent. gauch has in German been superseded by kuckuk, < Low German kukuk, Middle Dutch cucûc, Dutch koekoek, a form founded upon the call; and this in some German dialects has given way to the entirely imitative kuku, guckgu, gúgku, kuckú (see Grimm). Compare Greek κόκκῡξ, cuckoo, beside κόκκυ the call; medieval Greek κοῦκος, modern Greek κοῦκο the bird. The Latin was cuculus (compare Sanskrit kôkilas) and cucūlus, whence Italian cuˈculo, Provençal cogul; also in late Latin (and ? Plautus) cucus, whence Spanish cuco, Portuguese cuco, and Italian dialect cuco. The French cucu, coucou was not the representative of any Latin form, but taken anew from the call of the bird itself; Middle English cuccu might also be directly echoic, but being found only after the Norman Conquest, it was probably influenced by French example, though the annual lessons given by the bird have prevented the phonetic changes which the word would normally have undergone. In Scotch the stress is as in Old French on the second syllable /kuˈkuː/. With the 16th cent. Scots forms in guk- compare Bavarian gucku, and various early variants of German kuckuk, as gucguc, guckkug, etc.

a. A bird, Cuculus canorus, well known by the call of the male during mating time, of which the name is an imitation. cuckoo's note (figurative): repetition of the same words.It is a migratory bird, arriving in the British Islands in April, and hence welcomed as the ‘harbinger of spring’; it does not hatch its own offspring, but deposits its eggs in the nests of small birds, as the hedge sparrow, water-wagtail, yellowhammer, and others; to this peculiarity many allusions occur: cf. also cuckold n.¹

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Cuculiformes (cuckoos, etc.) > [noun] > family Cuculidae > genus Cuculus > cuculus canorus (cuckoo)

yekec725

cuckooc1240

gowkc1325

Welsh ambassador1608

Welsh ledger1608

suck-egg1851

c1240 Cuckoo Song Sumer is icumen in..murie sing cuccu! Cuccu! cuccu! Wel singes þu cuccu; ne swik þu nauer nu.

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 22 Þe yelpere is þe cockou þet ne kan naȝt zinge bote of him-zelue.

c1381 G. Chaucer Parl. Foules 358 Ther was..the cokkow [v.r. cucko, cuckow, kukkowe, cuccow] most onkynde.

14.. in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 702 Hic cuculus, cauko.

?a1500 Nominale (Yale Beinecke 594) in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 762 A cocow.

a1522 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid (1960) xii. Prol. 241 The gukgo [1553 gukkow] galys, and so quytteris the quaill.

1529 T. More Dialogue Heresyes i, in Wks. 132/1 No more meruailous is a koko than a cock.

1594 E. Spenser Amoretti xix. sig. B3 The merry Cuckow, messenger of Spring.

1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear iv. 210 You trow nuncle, the hedge sparrow fed the Cookow so long, that it had it head bit off beit young.

1652 W. Blith Eng. Improver Improved ii. 14 He..may as well make a hedge to keep in the Cuckow.

1728 J. Thomson Spring 29 From the first Note the hollow Cuckoo sings, The Symphony of Spring.

1749 J. Wesley in Wks. (1872) X. 28 Sir, I must come in again with my cuckoo's note,—The proof! Where is the proof!

1807 W. Wordsworth To Cuckoo i, in Poems II. 57 O Cuckoo! shall I call thee Bird, Or but a wandering Voice?

1841–44 R. W. Emerson Over-soul in Wks. (1906) I. 111 Yonder masterful cuckoo Crowds every egg out of the nest..except its own.

b. The family name of the Cuculidæ, of which the common cuckoo is the type; the various genera and species are known as crested cuckoo, lark-heeled cuckoo, spur-heeled cuckoo, etc.; also the tree cuckoo, and hook-billed cuckoos, and gregarious cuckoos, American types of the family.ground-cuckoo, pheasant cuckoo, yellow-billed cuckoo: see the first element.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Cuculiformes (cuckoos, etc.) > [noun] > family Cuculidae

cuckoo1797

1797 P. Wakefield Mental Improv. (1801) I. 115 It is a species of cuckow.

1803 W. Bingley Animal Biogr. II. 294 The Cuckoo visits us early in the spring.

1837 Swainson in Penny Cycl. VIII. 207/1 I have no doubt that the great length of tail possessed by nearly all the cuckoos is given to them as a sort of balance.

1861 R. Swinhoe Narr. N. China Campaign 1860 16 You hear the soft notes of the striated cuckoo.

2. The note of the bird, or an imitation of it.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Cuculiformes (cuckoos, etc.) > [interjection] > sound made by cuckoo

cuckooc1240

c1240 [see sense 1a].

c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) vi. 31 The titlene follouit the goilk ande gart hyr sing guk guk.

1562 J. Heywood Sixt Hundred Epigrammes xcv, in Wks. sig. Ddiv^v In Apryll the Koocoo can syng hir song by rote,..At fyrst, kooco, kooco, syng styll can she do.

1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost v. ii. 886 Cuckow, Cuckow: O word of feare, Vnpleasing to a married eare.

1856 E. Capern Poems (ed. 2) 92 Cuckoo, cuckoo, singing mellow, Ever when the fields are yellow.

3. Applied to a person; esp. in reference to the bird's monotonous call, or its habit of laying its eggs in the nests of other birds; also = fool, ‘gowk’. Now usually slang for ‘a silly person’.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupid, foolish, or inadequate person > foolish person, fool > [noun]

dizzyc825

cang?c1225

foolc1225

apec1330

mopc1330

saddle-goosec1346

mis-feelinga1382

foltc1390

mopec1390

fona1400

buffardc1430

fopc1440

joppec1440

fonda1450

fondlinga1450

insipienta1513

plume of feathers1530

bobolynec1540

dizzard1546

Little Witham?1548

nodc1563

dawkin1565

cocknel1566

nigion1570

niddicock1577

nodcock1577

cuckoo1581

Jack with the feather1581

niddipol1582

noddyship?1589

stirkc1590

fonkin1591

Gibraltar1593

fopper1598

noddypeak1598

coxcombry1600

simple1600

gowka1605

nup1607

fooliaminy1608

silly ass1608

dosser-head1612

dor1616

glow-worm1624

liripipea1625

doodle1629

sop1637

spalt1639

fool's head1650

buffle1655

Jack Adams1656

bufflehead1659

nincompoopc1668

bavian1678

nokes1679

foolanea1681

cod1699

hulver-head1699

nigmenog1699

single ten1699

mud1703

dowf1722

foolatum1740

silly billy1749

tommy noddy1774

arsec1785

nincom1800

silly1807

slob1810

omadhaun1818

potwalloper1820

mosy1824

amadan1825

gump1825

gype1825

oonchook1825

prawn1845

suck-egg1851

goosey1852

nowmun1854

pelican1856

poppy-show1860

buggerlugs1861

damfool1881

mudhead1882

yob1886

peanut head1891

haggis bag1892

poop1893

gazob1906

mush1906

wump1908

zob1911

gorm1912

goof1916

goofus1916

gubbins1916

dumb cluck1922

twat1922

B.F.1925

goofer1925

bird brain1926

berk1929

Berkeley1929

Berkeley Hunt1929

ding1929

loogan1929

stupido1929

poop-stick1930

nelly1931

droop1932

diddy1933

slappy1937

goof ball1938

get1940

poon1940

tonk1941

clot1942

yuck1943

possum1945

gobdaw1947

momo1953

nig-nog1953

plonker1955

weenie1956

nong-nong1959

Berkshire Hunt1960

balloon1965

doofus1965

dork1965

nana1965

shit-for-brains1966

schmoll1967

tosspot1967

lunchbox1969

doof1971

tonto1973

dorkus1979

motorhead1979

mouth-breather1979

wally1980

wally brain1981

der-brain1983

langer1983

numpty1985

sotong1988

fanny1995

fannybaws2000

the mind > language > speech > repetition > [noun] > one who repeats

cuckoo1581

repeater1598

battologist1653

repetitioner?1720

repetitionist1815

echoer1823

society > morality > duty or obligation > recognition of duty > undutifulness > treachery > [noun] > treacherous person

swikec1000

adderOE

traitor?c1225

Scariotc1380

murdererc1390

Judasc1405

proditor1436

cuckoo1581

Sinon1581

treachetour1590

viper1596

serpent1600

snakea1616

tradenta1626

Iscariot1647

dog1846

double-crosser1888

two-timer1927

society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabitant > temporary inhabitant > [noun] > in another's house

strangerc1400

visitor1576

visiter1592

house guest1609

sojourner1609

visitant1769

house party1827

cuckoo1872

1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius 59 b This lesson you learned of your Cowled Coockowes, to braule alwayes with bare names.

1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 ii. v. 356 A horsebacke (ye cuckoe) but a foote hee will not budge a foote.

1609 Euerie Woman in her Humor sig. D1^v An excellent Cuckoo, hee keepes his note in Winter.

1612 W. Fennor Cornu-copiæ 71 What Cuckoe laid this egge within your nest.

1823 W. Scott Peveril II. xi. 280 The cuckoo I travel with..he also has his uses.

1872 O. W. Holmes Poet at Breakfast-table i. 12 We Americans are all cuckoos,—we make our homes in the nests of other birds.

1889 J. K. Jerome Three Men in Boat x. 152 Give us a hand here, can't you, you cuckoo; standing there like a stuffed mummy.

1921 H. C. Witwer Leather Pushers i. 4 On account of this cuckoo forgettin' he was a box fighter,..we lose five other bouts.

1924 J. Galsworthy White Monkey i. ix. 77 ‘Don't worry, we'll dig up the just-right cuckoos, somehow.’ ‘A Chinese Minister would be perfect,’ mused Fleur.

†4. Horticulture. See quot. 1693; = French coucou. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

1693 J. Evelyn tr. J. de La Quintinie Compl. Gard'ner ii. vi. iii. 158 We must take exact care to pluck all the Cuckows among them, that is, those Strawberry plants that blossom much without knitting.

5. (Usually in plural) The local name of several spring flowers, as the Cuckoo-flower Cardamine pratensis, the Orchis mascula and O. Morio, the common Blue-bell Scilla nutans, the Ragged Robin, etc. Cf. Britten and Holland Plant Names.

ΚΠ

1878 Mrs. H. Wood Pomeroy Abbey (ed. 3) 56 The long, deep-pink flowers that children call cookoos.

6. A species of fish; also called cuckoo-fish, -wrasse. local.

ΚΠ

1848 C. A. Johns Week at Lizard 230 One species [Labrus variegatus]..is called by the fishermen a cuckoo, and is probably the ‘striped wrasse’ of authors.

7. = French coucou, a small coach running from Paris to the suburbs.

ΚΠ

1821 W. Irving in Life & Lett. (1864) II. ii. 46 Took a place in a cuckoo to St. Cloud.

Compounds

C1. attributive.

a. Of or pertaining to the cuckoo.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Cuculiformes (cuckoos, etc.) > [adjective]

cuckoo1627

1627 P. Fletcher Locustæ ii. xxxiv There layd they cuckoe eggs, and hatch't their brood unblest.

1742 E. Young Complaint: Night the Third 26 The Cuckow-seasons sing The same dull Note to such as nothing prize.

1803 W. Bingley Animal Biogr. II. 293 The Cuckoo tribe.

b. Resembling, or suggestive of, the cuckoo and its uniformly repeated call.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > speech > repetition > [adjective]

cuckoo-like1570

cuckooish1605

iterative1624

iterant1626

cuckoo1650

repetitious1673

repetitional1720

repetitionary1720

1650 T. Bayly Worcesters Apophthegmes 78 Not a little angry with this Redmans cukcow play.

1797 A. M. Bennett Beggar Girl IV. vii. 262 The hundred thousand rix-dollars were the cuckoo song with Christiana.

1831 Capt. Berkeley in Ho. Com. 5 July The cuckoo note..of ‘the Bill, the whole Bill, and nothing but the Bill’.

1858 Sat. Rev. 6 Nov. 438/1 The cuckoo cry that party is extinct.

1859 A. Helps Friends in Council New Ser. I. viii. 238 Tired of hearing this cuckoo exclamation.

C2.

cuckoo-bird n.

ΚΠ

1602 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor ii. i. 119 For sommer comes, and Cuckoo birds appeare.

cuckoo-echoing adj.

ΚΠ

1879 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 79 Cuckoo-echoing, bell-swarmèd, lark-charmèd.

cuckoo-like adj.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > speech > repetition > [adjective]

cuckoo-like1570

cuckooish1605

iterative1624

iterant1626

cuckoo1650

repetitious1673

repetitional1720

repetitionary1720

the mind > language > speech > repetition > [adverb]

cuckoo-like1570

reiteratively1877

psittacistically1901

1570 B. Googe tr. T. Kirchmeyer Popish Kingdome iii. f. 40 Or Coocoolike continually, one kinde of musike sing.

1601 Bp. W. Barlow Def. Protestants Relig. 95 This Cuckow-like Palinodie of Councels, Doctours, and Church.

1832 G. Downes Lett. from Continental Countries I. 183 He had two English words, ‘very good! very good!’ which, cuckoo-like, he was constantly reiterating.

C3.

cuckoo-ale n. ‘ale drunk out of doors to welcome the cuckoo's return’ (Halliwell).

cuckoo-ball n. ‘a light ball made of party-coloured rags, for young children’ (Forby).

cuckoo-bee n. a genus of bees which deposit their eggs in the nests of other bees.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > superfamily Apoidea (bees) > member of family Anthophoridae

mason bee1774

cuckoo-bee1836

wasp-bee1844

1836–9 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. II. 930/2 In the cuckoo-bee..there are..four imperfectly developed spines.

† cuckoo-bone n. Obsolete the coccyx.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > structural parts > bone or bones > bony support for limbs > pelvis > [noun] > coccyx

coccyx1615

rump-bone1615

cuckoo-bone1668

1668 N. Culpeper & A. Cole tr. T. Bartholin Anat. (new ed.) iv. xv. 351 Os Coccygis the Cockow-bone, so called from the shape it hath of a Cuckows-bill.

cuckoobread n. (also cuckoo's bread) the Wood sorrel; also the Lady's Smock.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Oxalidaceae (wood-sorrel and allies) > [noun]

sorrel de boysa1400

wood-soura1400

hallelujahc1425

cuckoobread1526

cuckoo's meat1526

wood sorrel1526

stubwort1541

sour trefoil1578

stobwort1597

salad sorrel1611

French sorrel1633

three-leaved grass1634

stab-wort1640

lujula1651

oxalis1706

goat's foot1787

sour grass1866

sour-sop1885

soursob1907

1526 Grete Herball l. sig. C.vi^v Alleluya is an herbe called cuckowes brede.

1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball i. xl. 58 The leaues of Cuckowbread, sower Tryfoly, or Alleluya.

1776 W. Withering Brit. Plants (1796) II. 431 Yellow-flowered Cuckowbread.

cuckoo-dove n. a genus of doves of the East Indies and Australia.

cuckoo-feeder n. a form of feeder in the bellows of an organ.

cuckoo-fish n. see 6 above; also the boar-fish.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > [noun] > order Zeiformes (dories) > member of family Capridae

boar-fish1836

cuckoo-fish1884

the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > suborder Labrioidei (wrasse) > [noun] > family Labridae > genus Labrus > member of

breama1475

thrush-fish1601

ballana1705

yellowfish1734

comber1769

sea-swine1803

cuckoo-fish1884

hogfish1898

1661 R. Lovell Πανζωορυκτολογια, sive Panzoologicomineralogia Isagoge sig. A6^v The Mullet, swallow fish, cuckowfish.

1884 J. C. Brevoort in G. B. Goode et al. Fisheries & Fishing Industries U.S. I. 257 When freshly taken from the water they grunt quite loudly, whence their popular name of Grunter, or Cuckoo-fish.

cuckoo fool n. (also cuckoo's fool) the Wryneck, which arrives at or about the same time as the cuckoo.

cuckoo fowl n. (see quot.).

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > family Phasianidae (pheasants, etc.) > genus Gallus (domestic fowl) > [noun] > types of

rumpkin1676

bantam1749

Jersey blue1758

Dorking1779

Plymouth Rock1806

Java1813

shack-bag1816

Negro fowl1835

creeper1847

Minorca1848

cuckoo fowl1850

Leghorn1850

Brahmapootra1851

Ancona1853

shanghai1853

Andalusian1854

Bolton bay1854

Corsican cock1854

jacinth1854

Minorca1854

spangle1854

yellow leg1854

Crèvecœur1855

sultan1855

Hamburg1857

Leghorn1857

Yokohama1865

Houdan1871

Langshan1871

Wyandot1881

sultan hen1882

silkie1885

Orpington1887

rock1889

silver-grey1889

Campine1892

Rhode Island Red1893

Faverolles1902

Rhode Island White1905

Malines1906

Rhode Island1914

Australorp1922

maranc1934

1850 D. J. Browne Amer. Poultry Yard 56 The ‘cuckoo fowl’..was so called from its barred plumage, resembling the breast of the cuckoo.

cuckoo-froth n. = cuckoo-spit n.²

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > subclass Pterygota > [noun] > division Exopterygota or Hemimetabola > order Hemiptera > suborder Homoptera > member of family Cercopidae (spit-insects) > frothy secretion

wood-sear1585

cuckoo-spit1592

cuckoo-spittle1646

toad-spittle1658

spring-frotha1722

toad-spit1751

froth-spit1753

frog spittle1811

frog-spit1823

cuckoo-froth1872

1872 Hist. Berwickshire Naturalists' Club 6 386 Cuckoo-froth, which is secreted by the little frogskip insect.

cuckoo-gilliflower n. the Ragged Robin, Lychnis Flos-cuculi.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > campions and catchflies

rose campion1530

jagged pink1574

cuckoo-gilliflower1578

flower Constantinople1578

marsh gilliflower1578

wild William1578

crow-flower1597

gardener's delight1597

nonsuch1597

cuckoo-flower1629

fair maid of France1629

meadow pink1660

Bristol Non-such1668

flower of Bristol1672

knight-cross1725

ragged robin1731

fair maid of Kent1813

flower of Jove1840

mullein pink1840

fire pink1848

sticky catchfly1908

1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball ii. vii. 157 It is called..wilde Williams, Marshe gillofers, or Cockow gillofers.

cuckoo-grass n. the Field-Rush, Luzula campestris, flowering in spring.

cuckoo gurnard n. a fish, Trigla cuculus, which emits a sound resembling the cuckoo's call when taken out of the water.

cuckoo-lamb n. a lamb born between April and June.

ΚΠ

1749 W. Ellis Compl. Syst. Improvem. Sheep 73 All lambs yeaned in April or May are called with us, in Hertfordsire, the cuckoo lambs, because they fall in cuckoo time.

cuckoo-maid n. (also cuckoo's-maid, cuckoo's-maiden, cuckoo's-mate) (a) = cuckoo fool n.; (b) in Hereford, the Red-backed Shrike.

ΚΠ

1865 Cornhill Mag. July 36 In the North the wryneck is called the ‘cuckoo-maiden’, because its song foretells the cuckoo's approach.

cuckoo orchis n. Orchis mascula.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > orchids > early purple orchids

standengussa1400

standelworta1500

gandergoose?1550

adder's grass1551

ragwort1552

cuckoo orchis1578

fool's ballocks1578

Palma Christi1578

standergrass1578

fool's stones1597

fox-stones1597

goat's stones1597

goat stones1597

testicles1597

dead man's finger1604

long purples1604

dead man's thumb1652

man orchis1670

monkey orchisa1678

meadow orchis1753

military orchis1784

male orchis1785

ram's horn1832

lady orchis1846

dead man's hand1853

scorpion plant1866

phalaenopsid1880

walking orchid1910

soldier orchid1934

1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball ii. lix. 225 The floures..speckled with smal speckes of a deeper purple, like to Cuckow Orchis, or fooles ballockes.

1597 J. Gerard Herball i. 159 Called..male Foole stones, and Cuckow Orchis.

cuckoo-point n. = cuckoo-pint n.

cuckoo-ray n. a fish, a species of ray.

cuckoo scab n. Australian and New Zealand a skin disease of sheep.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of sheep > [noun] > skin disorders

shabc897

pelt-rot?1523

dartars1580

redwater1614

rubbers1779

sheep-scab1894

scabby mouth1938

cuckoo scab1941

1941 S. J. Baker Pop. Dict. Austral. Slang 21 Cuckoo scab, a skin disease on sheep on the back of the head and ears.

1951 L. G. D. Acland Early Canterbury Runs 372 Cuckoo scab, a skin disease sheep get at the back of their heads and on their ears. I have only noticed it among merinos and in the back country.

cuckoo's-eye n. Geranium Robertianum and Veronica chamœdryo.

ΚΠ

1870 ‘Ouida’ Puck II. vi. 127 The sunny azure of the little cuckoo's-eye flowers.

Categories »

cuckoo-shell n. a local name of the whelk.

cuckoo shoe n. (also cuckoo's shoe) Dog Violet.

cuckoo-shrike n. the Caterpillar-catcher.

cuckoo's mate n. = cuckoo-maid n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Piciformes > [noun] > family Picidae > jynx torquilla (wryneck)

wryneck1585

jynxa1657

yunx1694

barley-bird1766

long tongue1822

cuckoo's mate1831

snake-bird1831

pea-bird1838

writheneck1840

rinding-bird1849

weet-bird1863

mackerel bird1879

felling bird1883

turkey-bird1885

1802 G. Montagu Ornithol. Dict. at Wryneck Appearing at the same time with the Cuckow, it has been termed that bird's servant or attendant.]

1831 J. Rennie Montagu's Ornithol. Dict. (ed. 2) 123 Cuckoo's mate,—a name for the Wryneck.

1898 C. M. Yonge John Keble's Parishes xvi. 202 Wryneck..or Cuckoo's mate, squeaks all round the woods..just as the cuckoo comes.

1955 D. A. Bannerman Birds Brit. Isles IV. 119 The approximate dates of its [sc. the wryneck's] arrival in Britain, where it is commonly known as ‘the cuckoo's mate’, have already been given.

cuckoo's messenger n. the northern wryneck, Jynx torquilla.

ΚΠ

1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 103 Wryneck... From its arrival the same time as, or a little before, the cuckoo, it has the names of..Cuckoo's messenger [etc.].

† cuckoo-spell n. Obsolete name suggested by Puttenham for the rhetorical figure Epizeuxis.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > figure of speech > figures of structure or thought > [noun] > repetition > immediate or for emphasis

cuckoo-spell1589

epizeuxis1589

underlay1589

1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xix. 168 We might very properly, in our vulgar and for pleasure call him the cuckowspell.

cuckoo-wrasse n. see 6 above.

ΚΠ

1868 J. C. Wilcocks Sea-fisherman (ed. 2) 115 The Cook or Cuckoo-Wrasse, of which the blue marks are very beautiful.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	cuckoo
释义	cuckoon. Brit. /ˈkʊkuː/, U.S. /ˈkuˌku/, /ˈkʊˌku/ Forms: Middle English cuccu, Middle English coccou, cockou, Middle English cukkow, cokkow, (Middle English cocow, co-, kockowe, cucko, cauko, kukkowe, Middle English–1500s cuckowe, 1500s cocowe, cokowe, cokoue, koko, kookoo, cokow, coockow; Scottish gukkow, gukgo guk-guk; 1500s–1600s cuckoe, 1600s cukcow, cockow, ( cocoe), Middle English–1800s cuckow, 1600s– cuckoo. Etymology: Identical with French coucou (12–15th cent. cucu), imitating the cry of the bird. The Old English name was géac , rare Middle English ȝeke , cognate with German gauch , Old Norse gaukr , whence Scots and north English gowk n. In many languages a tendency has been shown from time to time to abandon inherited forms of this bird's name, which, even though originally echoic, have under the operation of phonetic changes gradually ceased to be so, in order to go back anew to the call of the bird. Thus, since the 15th cent. gauch has in German been superseded by kuckuk, < Low German kukuk, Middle Dutch cucûc, Dutch koekoek, a form founded upon the call; and this in some German dialects has given way to the entirely imitative kuku, guckgu, gúgku, kuckú (see Grimm). Compare Greek κόκκῡξ, cuckoo, beside κόκκυ the call; medieval Greek κοῦκος, modern Greek κοῦκο the bird. The Latin was cuculus (compare Sanskrit kôkilas) and cucūlus, whence Italian cuˈculo, Provençal cogul; also in late Latin (and ? Plautus) cucus, whence Spanish cuco, Portuguese cuco, and Italian dialect cuco. The French cucu, coucou was not the representative of any Latin form, but taken anew from the call of the bird itself; Middle English cuccu might also be directly echoic, but being found only after the Norman Conquest, it was probably influenced by French example, though the annual lessons given by the bird have prevented the phonetic changes which the word would normally have undergone. In Scotch the stress is as in Old French on the second syllable /kuˈkuː/. With the 16th cent. Scots forms in guk- compare Bavarian gucku, and various early variants of German kuckuk, as gucguc, guckkug, etc. 1. a. A bird, Cuculus canorus, well known by the call of the male during mating time, of which the name is an imitation. cuckoo's note (figurative): repetition of the same words.It is a migratory bird, arriving in the British Islands in April, and hence welcomed as the ‘harbinger of spring’; it does not hatch its own offspring, but deposits its eggs in the nests of small birds, as the hedge sparrow, water-wagtail, yellowhammer, and others; to this peculiarity many allusions occur: cf. also cuckold n.¹ ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Cuculiformes (cuckoos, etc.) > [noun] > family Cuculidae > genus Cuculus > cuculus canorus (cuckoo) yekec725 cuckooc1240 gowkc1325 Welsh ambassador1608 Welsh ledger1608 suck-egg1851 c1240 Cuckoo Song Sumer is icumen in..murie sing cuccu! Cuccu! cuccu! Wel singes þu cuccu; ne swik þu nauer nu. 1340 Ayenbite (1866) 22 Þe yelpere is þe cockou þet ne kan naȝt zinge bote of him-zelue. c1381 G. Chaucer Parl. Foules 358 Ther was..the cokkow [v.r. cucko, cuckow, kukkowe, cuccow] most onkynde. 14.. in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 702 Hic cuculus, cauko. ?a1500 Nominale (Yale Beinecke 594) in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 762 A cocow. a1522 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid (1960) xii. Prol. 241 The gukgo [1553 gukkow] galys, and so quytteris the quaill. 1529 T. More Dialogue Heresyes i, in Wks. 132/1 No more meruailous is a koko than a cock. 1594 E. Spenser Amoretti xix. sig. B3 The merry Cuckow, messenger of Spring. 1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear iv. 210 You trow nuncle, the hedge sparrow fed the Cookow so long, that it had it head bit off beit young. 1652 W. Blith Eng. Improver Improved ii. 14 He..may as well make a hedge to keep in the Cuckow. 1728 J. Thomson Spring 29 From the first Note the hollow Cuckoo sings, The Symphony of Spring. 1749 J. Wesley in Wks. (1872) X. 28 Sir, I must come in again with my cuckoo's note,—The proof! Where is the proof! 1807 W. Wordsworth To Cuckoo i, in Poems II. 57 O Cuckoo! shall I call thee Bird, Or but a wandering Voice? 1841–44 R. W. Emerson Over-soul in Wks. (1906) I. 111 Yonder masterful cuckoo Crowds every egg out of the nest..except its own. b. The family name of the Cuculidæ, of which the common cuckoo is the type; the various genera and species are known as crested cuckoo, lark-heeled cuckoo, spur-heeled cuckoo, etc.; also the tree cuckoo, and hook-billed cuckoos, and gregarious cuckoos, American types of the family.ground-cuckoo, pheasant cuckoo, yellow-billed cuckoo: see the first element. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Cuculiformes (cuckoos, etc.) > [noun] > family Cuculidae cuckoo1797 1797 P. Wakefield Mental Improv. (1801) I. 115 It is a species of cuckow. 1803 W. Bingley Animal Biogr. II. 294 The Cuckoo visits us early in the spring. 1837 Swainson in Penny Cycl. VIII. 207/1 I have no doubt that the great length of tail possessed by nearly all the cuckoos is given to them as a sort of balance. 1861 R. Swinhoe Narr. N. China Campaign 1860 16 You hear the soft notes of the striated cuckoo. 2. The note of the bird, or an imitation of it. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Cuculiformes (cuckoos, etc.) > [interjection] > sound made by cuckoo cuckooc1240 c1240 [see sense 1a]. c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) vi. 31 The titlene follouit the goilk ande gart hyr sing guk guk. 1562 J. Heywood Sixt Hundred Epigrammes xcv, in Wks. sig. Ddiv^v In Apryll the Koocoo can syng hir song by rote,..At fyrst, kooco, kooco, syng styll can she do. 1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost v. ii. 886 Cuckow, Cuckow: O word of feare, Vnpleasing to a married eare. 1856 E. Capern Poems (ed. 2) 92 Cuckoo, cuckoo, singing mellow, Ever when the fields are yellow. 3. Applied to a person; esp. in reference to the bird's monotonous call, or its habit of laying its eggs in the nests of other birds; also = fool, ‘gowk’. Now usually slang for ‘a silly person’. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupid, foolish, or inadequate person > foolish person, fool > [noun] dizzyc825 cang?c1225 foolc1225 apec1330 mopc1330 saddle-goosec1346 mis-feelinga1382 foltc1390 mopec1390 fona1400 buffardc1430 fopc1440 joppec1440 fonda1450 fondlinga1450 insipienta1513 plume of feathers1530 bobolynec1540 dizzard1546 Little Witham?1548 nodc1563 dawkin1565 cocknel1566 nigion1570 niddicock1577 nodcock1577 cuckoo1581 Jack with the feather1581 niddipol1582 noddyship?1589 stirkc1590 fonkin1591 Gibraltar1593 fopper1598 noddypeak1598 coxcombry1600 simple1600 gowka1605 nup1607 fooliaminy1608 silly ass1608 dosser-head1612 dor1616 glow-worm1624 liripipea1625 doodle1629 sop1637 spalt1639 fool's head1650 buffle1655 Jack Adams1656 bufflehead1659 nincompoopc1668 bavian1678 nokes1679 foolanea1681 cod1699 hulver-head1699 nigmenog1699 single ten1699 mud1703 dowf1722 foolatum1740 silly billy1749 tommy noddy1774 arsec1785 nincom1800 silly1807 slob1810 omadhaun1818 potwalloper1820 mosy1824 amadan1825 gump1825 gype1825 oonchook1825 prawn1845 suck-egg1851 goosey1852 nowmun1854 pelican1856 poppy-show1860 buggerlugs1861 damfool1881 mudhead1882 yob1886 peanut head1891 haggis bag1892 poop1893 gazob1906 mush1906 wump1908 zob1911 gorm1912 goof1916 goofus1916 gubbins1916 dumb cluck1922 twat1922 B.F.1925 goofer1925 bird brain1926 berk1929 Berkeley1929 Berkeley Hunt1929 ding1929 loogan1929 stupido1929 poop-stick1930 nelly1931 droop1932 diddy1933 slappy1937 goof ball1938 get1940 poon1940 tonk1941 clot1942 yuck1943 possum1945 gobdaw1947 momo1953 nig-nog1953 plonker1955 weenie1956 nong-nong1959 Berkshire Hunt1960 balloon1965 doofus1965 dork1965 nana1965 shit-for-brains1966 schmoll1967 tosspot1967 lunchbox1969 doof1971 tonto1973 dorkus1979 motorhead1979 mouth-breather1979 wally1980 wally brain1981 der-brain1983 langer1983 numpty1985 sotong1988 fanny1995 fannybaws2000 the mind > language > speech > repetition > [noun] > one who repeats cuckoo1581 repeater1598 battologist1653 repetitioner?1720 repetitionist1815 echoer1823 society > morality > duty or obligation > recognition of duty > undutifulness > treachery > [noun] > treacherous person swikec1000 adderOE traitor?c1225 Scariotc1380 murdererc1390 Judasc1405 proditor1436 cuckoo1581 Sinon1581 treachetour1590 viper1596 serpent1600 snakea1616 tradenta1626 Iscariot1647 dog1846 double-crosser1888 two-timer1927 society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabitant > temporary inhabitant > [noun] > in another's house strangerc1400 visitor1576 visiter1592 house guest1609 sojourner1609 visitant1769 house party1827 cuckoo1872 1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius 59 b This lesson you learned of your Cowled Coockowes, to braule alwayes with bare names. 1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 ii. v. 356 A horsebacke (ye cuckoe) but a foote hee will not budge a foote. View more context for this quotation 1609 Euerie Woman in her Humor sig. D1^v An excellent Cuckoo, hee keepes his note in Winter. 1612 W. Fennor Cornu-copiæ 71 What Cuckoe laid this egge within your nest. 1823 W. Scott Peveril II. xi. 280 The cuckoo I travel with..he also has his uses. 1872 O. W. Holmes Poet at Breakfast-table i. 12 We Americans are all cuckoos,—we make our homes in the nests of other birds. 1889 J. K. Jerome Three Men in Boat x. 152 Give us a hand here, can't you, you cuckoo; standing there like a stuffed mummy. 1921 H. C. Witwer Leather Pushers i. 4 On account of this cuckoo forgettin' he was a box fighter,..we lose five other bouts. 1924 J. Galsworthy White Monkey i. ix. 77 ‘Don't worry, we'll dig up the just-right cuckoos, somehow.’ ‘A Chinese Minister would be perfect,’ mused Fleur. †4. Horticulture. See quot. 1693; = French coucou. Obsolete. ΚΠ 1693 J. Evelyn tr. J. de La Quintinie Compl. Gard'ner ii. vi. iii. 158 We must take exact care to pluck all the Cuckows among them, that is, those Strawberry plants that blossom much without knitting. 5. (Usually in plural) The local name of several spring flowers, as the Cuckoo-flower Cardamine pratensis, the Orchis mascula and O. Morio, the common Blue-bell Scilla nutans, the Ragged Robin, etc. Cf. Britten and Holland Plant Names. ΚΠ 1878 Mrs. H. Wood Pomeroy Abbey (ed. 3) 56 The long, deep-pink flowers that children call cookoos. 6. A species of fish; also called cuckoo-fish, -wrasse. local. ΚΠ 1848 C. A. Johns Week at Lizard 230 One species [Labrus variegatus]..is called by the fishermen a cuckoo, and is probably the ‘striped wrasse’ of authors. 7. = French coucou, a small coach running from Paris to the suburbs. ΚΠ 1821 W. Irving in Life & Lett. (1864) II. ii. 46 Took a place in a cuckoo to St. Cloud. Compounds C1. attributive. a. Of or pertaining to the cuckoo. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Cuculiformes (cuckoos, etc.) > [adjective] cuckoo1627 1627 P. Fletcher Locustæ ii. xxxiv There layd they cuckoe eggs, and hatch't their brood unblest. 1742 E. Young Complaint: Night the Third 26 The Cuckow-seasons sing The same dull Note to such as nothing prize. 1803 W. Bingley Animal Biogr. II. 293 The Cuckoo tribe. b. Resembling, or suggestive of, the cuckoo and its uniformly repeated call. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > speech > repetition > [adjective] cuckoo-like1570 cuckooish1605 iterative1624 iterant1626 cuckoo1650 repetitious1673 repetitional1720 repetitionary1720 1650 T. Bayly Worcesters Apophthegmes 78 Not a little angry with this Redmans cukcow play. 1797 A. M. Bennett Beggar Girl IV. vii. 262 The hundred thousand rix-dollars were the cuckoo song with Christiana. 1831 Capt. Berkeley in Ho. Com. 5 July The cuckoo note..of ‘the Bill, the whole Bill, and nothing but the Bill’. 1858 Sat. Rev. 6 Nov. 438/1 The cuckoo cry that party is extinct. 1859 A. Helps Friends in Council New Ser. I. viii. 238 Tired of hearing this cuckoo exclamation. C2. a. cuckoo-bird n. ΚΠ 1602 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor ii. i. 119 For sommer comes, and Cuckoo birds appeare. b. cuckoo-echoing adj. ΚΠ 1879 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 79 Cuckoo-echoing, bell-swarmèd, lark-charmèd. c. cuckoo-like adj. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > speech > repetition > [adjective] cuckoo-like1570 cuckooish1605 iterative1624 iterant1626 cuckoo1650 repetitious1673 repetitional1720 repetitionary1720 the mind > language > speech > repetition > [adverb] cuckoo-like1570 reiteratively1877 psittacistically1901 1570 B. Googe tr. T. Kirchmeyer Popish Kingdome iii. f. 40 Or Coocoolike continually, one kinde of musike sing. 1601 Bp. W. Barlow Def. Protestants Relig. 95 This Cuckow-like Palinodie of Councels, Doctours, and Church. 1832 G. Downes Lett. from Continental Countries I. 183 He had two English words, ‘very good! very good!’ which, cuckoo-like, he was constantly reiterating. C3. cuckoo-ale n. ‘ale drunk out of doors to welcome the cuckoo's return’ (Halliwell). cuckoo-ball n. ‘a light ball made of party-coloured rags, for young children’ (Forby). cuckoo-bee n. a genus of bees which deposit their eggs in the nests of other bees. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > superfamily Apoidea (bees) > member of family Anthophoridae mason bee1774 cuckoo-bee1836 wasp-bee1844 1836–9 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. II. 930/2 In the cuckoo-bee..there are..four imperfectly developed spines. † cuckoo-bone n. Obsolete the coccyx. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > structural parts > bone or bones > bony support for limbs > pelvis > [noun] > coccyx coccyx1615 rump-bone1615 cuckoo-bone1668 1668 N. Culpeper & A. Cole tr. T. Bartholin Anat. (new ed.) iv. xv. 351 Os Coccygis the Cockow-bone, so called from the shape it hath of a Cuckows-bill. cuckoobread n. (also cuckoo's bread) the Wood sorrel; also the Lady's Smock. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Oxalidaceae (wood-sorrel and allies) > [noun] sorrel de boysa1400 wood-soura1400 hallelujahc1425 cuckoobread1526 cuckoo's meat1526 wood sorrel1526 stubwort1541 sour trefoil1578 stobwort1597 salad sorrel1611 French sorrel1633 three-leaved grass1634 stab-wort1640 lujula1651 oxalis1706 goat's foot1787 sour grass1866 sour-sop1885 soursob1907 1526 Grete Herball l. sig. C.vi^v Alleluya is an herbe called cuckowes brede. 1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball i. xl. 58 The leaues of Cuckowbread, sower Tryfoly, or Alleluya. 1776 W. Withering Brit. Plants (1796) II. 431 Yellow-flowered Cuckowbread. cuckoo-dove n. a genus of doves of the East Indies and Australia. cuckoo-feeder n. a form of feeder in the bellows of an organ. cuckoo-fish n. see 6 above; also the boar-fish. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > [noun] > order Zeiformes (dories) > member of family Capridae boar-fish1836 cuckoo-fish1884 the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > suborder Labrioidei (wrasse) > [noun] > family Labridae > genus Labrus > member of breama1475 thrush-fish1601 ballana1705 yellowfish1734 comber1769 sea-swine1803 cuckoo-fish1884 hogfish1898 1661 R. Lovell Πανζωορυκτολογια, sive Panzoologicomineralogia Isagoge sig. A6^v The Mullet, swallow fish, cuckowfish. 1884 J. C. Brevoort in G. B. Goode et al. Fisheries & Fishing Industries U.S. I. 257 When freshly taken from the water they grunt quite loudly, whence their popular name of Grunter, or Cuckoo-fish. cuckoo fool n. (also cuckoo's fool) the Wryneck, which arrives at or about the same time as the cuckoo. cuckoo fowl n. (see quot.). ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > family Phasianidae (pheasants, etc.) > genus Gallus (domestic fowl) > [noun] > types of rumpkin1676 bantam1749 Jersey blue1758 Dorking1779 Plymouth Rock1806 Java1813 shack-bag1816 Negro fowl1835 creeper1847 Minorca1848 cuckoo fowl1850 Leghorn1850 Brahmapootra1851 Ancona1853 shanghai1853 Andalusian1854 Bolton bay1854 Corsican cock1854 jacinth1854 Minorca1854 spangle1854 yellow leg1854 Crèvecœur1855 sultan1855 Hamburg1857 Leghorn1857 Yokohama1865 Houdan1871 Langshan1871 Wyandot1881 sultan hen1882 silkie1885 Orpington1887 rock1889 silver-grey1889 Campine1892 Rhode Island Red1893 Faverolles1902 Rhode Island White1905 Malines1906 Rhode Island1914 Australorp1922 maranc1934 1850 D. J. Browne Amer. Poultry Yard 56 The ‘cuckoo fowl’..was so called from its barred plumage, resembling the breast of the cuckoo. cuckoo-froth n. = cuckoo-spit n.² ΘΚΠ the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > subclass Pterygota > [noun] > division Exopterygota or Hemimetabola > order Hemiptera > suborder Homoptera > member of family Cercopidae (spit-insects) > frothy secretion wood-sear1585 cuckoo-spit1592 cuckoo-spittle1646 toad-spittle1658 spring-frotha1722 toad-spit1751 froth-spit1753 frog spittle1811 frog-spit1823 cuckoo-froth1872 1872 Hist. Berwickshire Naturalists' Club 6 386 Cuckoo-froth, which is secreted by the little frogskip insect. cuckoo-gilliflower n. the Ragged Robin, Lychnis Flos-cuculi. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > campions and catchflies rose campion1530 jagged pink1574 cuckoo-gilliflower1578 flower Constantinople1578 marsh gilliflower1578 wild William1578 crow-flower1597 gardener's delight1597 nonsuch1597 cuckoo-flower1629 fair maid of France1629 meadow pink1660 Bristol Non-such1668 flower of Bristol1672 knight-cross1725 ragged robin1731 fair maid of Kent1813 flower of Jove1840 mullein pink1840 fire pink1848 sticky catchfly1908 1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball ii. vii. 157 It is called..wilde Williams, Marshe gillofers, or Cockow gillofers. cuckoo-grass n. the Field-Rush, Luzula campestris, flowering in spring. cuckoo gurnard n. a fish, Trigla cuculus, which emits a sound resembling the cuckoo's call when taken out of the water. cuckoo-lamb n. a lamb born between April and June. ΚΠ 1749 W. Ellis Compl. Syst. Improvem. Sheep 73 All lambs yeaned in April or May are called with us, in Hertfordsire, the cuckoo lambs, because they fall in cuckoo time. cuckoo-maid n. (also cuckoo's-maid, cuckoo's-maiden, cuckoo's-mate) (a) = cuckoo fool n.; (b) in Hereford, the Red-backed Shrike. ΚΠ 1865 Cornhill Mag. July 36 In the North the wryneck is called the ‘cuckoo-maiden’, because its song foretells the cuckoo's approach. cuckoo orchis n. Orchis mascula. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > orchids > early purple orchids standengussa1400 standelworta1500 gandergoose?1550 adder's grass1551 ragwort1552 cuckoo orchis1578 fool's ballocks1578 Palma Christi1578 standergrass1578 fool's stones1597 fox-stones1597 goat's stones1597 goat stones1597 testicles1597 dead man's finger1604 long purples1604 dead man's thumb1652 man orchis1670 monkey orchisa1678 meadow orchis1753 military orchis1784 male orchis1785 ram's horn1832 lady orchis1846 dead man's hand1853 scorpion plant1866 phalaenopsid1880 walking orchid1910 soldier orchid1934 1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball ii. lix. 225 The floures..speckled with smal speckes of a deeper purple, like to Cuckow Orchis, or fooles ballockes. 1597 J. Gerard Herball i. 159 Called..male Foole stones, and Cuckow Orchis. cuckoo-point n. = cuckoo-pint n. cuckoo-ray n. a fish, a species of ray. cuckoo scab n. Australian and New Zealand a skin disease of sheep. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of sheep > [noun] > skin disorders shabc897 pelt-rot?1523 dartars1580 redwater1614 rubbers1779 sheep-scab1894 scabby mouth1938 cuckoo scab1941 1941 S. J. Baker Pop. Dict. Austral. Slang 21 Cuckoo scab, a skin disease on sheep on the back of the head and ears. 1951 L. G. D. Acland Early Canterbury Runs 372 Cuckoo scab, a skin disease sheep get at the back of their heads and on their ears. I have only noticed it among merinos and in the back country. cuckoo's-eye n. Geranium Robertianum and Veronica chamœdryo. ΚΠ 1870 ‘Ouida’ Puck II. vi. 127 The sunny azure of the little cuckoo's-eye flowers. Categories » cuckoo-shell n. a local name of the whelk. cuckoo shoe n. (also cuckoo's shoe) Dog Violet. cuckoo-shrike n. the Caterpillar-catcher. cuckoo's mate n. = cuckoo-maid n. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Piciformes > [noun] > family Picidae > jynx torquilla (wryneck) wryneck1585 jynxa1657 yunx1694 barley-bird1766 long tongue1822 cuckoo's mate1831 snake-bird1831 pea-bird1838 writheneck1840 rinding-bird1849 weet-bird1863 mackerel bird1879 felling bird1883 turkey-bird1885 1802 G. Montagu Ornithol. Dict. at Wryneck Appearing at the same time with the Cuckow, it has been termed that bird's servant or attendant.] 1831 J. Rennie Montagu's Ornithol. Dict. (ed. 2) 123 Cuckoo's mate,—a name for the Wryneck. 1898 C. M. Yonge John Keble's Parishes xvi. 202 Wryneck..or Cuckoo's mate, squeaks all round the woods..just as the cuckoo comes. 1955 D. A. Bannerman Birds Brit. Isles IV. 119 The approximate dates of its [sc. the wryneck's] arrival in Britain, where it is commonly known as ‘the cuckoo's mate’, have already been given. cuckoo's messenger n. the northern wryneck, Jynx torquilla. ΚΠ 1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 103 Wryneck... From its arrival the same time as, or a little before, the cuckoo, it has the names of..Cuckoo's messenger [etc.]. † cuckoo-spell n. Obsolete name suggested by Puttenham for the rhetorical figure Epizeuxis. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > figure of speech > figures of structure or thought > [noun] > repetition > immediate or for emphasis cuckoo-spell1589 epizeuxis1589 underlay1589 1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xix. 168 We might very properly, in our vulgar and for pleasure call him the cuckowspell. cuckoo-wrasse n. see 6 above. ΚΠ 1868 J. C. Wilcocks Sea-fisherman (ed. 2) 115 The Cook or Cuckoo-Wrasse, of which the blue marks are very beautiful. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online June 2022). cuckooadj. Brit. /ˈkʊkuː/, U.S. /ˈkuˌku/, /ˈkʊˌku/ Etymology: < cuckoo n. slang (originally U.S.). Crazy, out of one's wits. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > [adjective] > insanity or madness > affected with woodc725 woodsekc890 giddyc1000 out of (by, from, of) wit or one's witc1000 witlessc1000 brainsickOE amadc1225 lunaticc1290 madc1330 sickc1340 brain-wooda1375 out of one's minda1387 frenetica1398 fonda1400 formada1400 unwisea1400 brainc1400 unwholec1400 alienate?a1425 brainless1434 distract of one's wits1470 madfula1475 furious1475 distract1481 fro oneself1483 beside oneself1490 beside one's patience1490 dementa1500 red-wood?1507 extraught1509 misminded1509 peevish1523 bedlam-ripe1525 straughta1529 fanatic1533 bedlama1535 daft1540 unsounda1547 stark raving (also staring) mad1548 distraughted1572 insane1575 acrazeda1577 past oneself1576 frenzy1577 poll-mad1577 out of one's senses1580 maddeda1586 frenetical1588 distempered1593 distraught1597 crazed1599 diswitted1599 idle-headed1599 lymphatical1603 extract1608 madling1608 distracteda1616 informala1616 far gone1616 crazy1617 March mada1625 non compos mentis1628 brain-crazed1632 demented1632 crack-brained1634 arreptitiousa1641 dementate1640 dementated1650 brain-crackeda1652 insaniated1652 exsensed1654 bedlam-witteda1657 lymphatic1656 mad-like1679 dementative1685 non compos1699 beside one's gravity1716 hyte1720 lymphated1727 out of one's head1733 maddened1735 swivel-eyed1758 wrong1765 brainsickly1770 fatuous1773 derangedc1790 alienated1793 shake-brained1793 crack-headed1796 flighty1802 wowf1802 doitrified1808 phrenesiac1814 bedlamite1815 mad-braineda1822 fey1823 bedlamitish1824 skire1825 beside one's wits1827 as mad as a hatter1829 crazied1842 off one's head1842 bemadded1850 loco1852 off one's nut1858 off his chump1864 unsane1867 meshuga1868 non-sane1868 loony1872 bee-headed1879 off one's onion1881 off one's base1882 (to go) off one's dot1883 locoed1885 screwy1887 off one's rocker1890 balmy or barmy on (or in) the crumpet1891 meshuggener1892 nutty1892 buggy1893 bughouse1894 off one's pannikin1894 ratty1895 off one's trolley1896 batchy1898 twisted1900 batsc1901 batty1903 dippy1903 bugs1904 dingy1904 up the (also a) pole1904 nut1906 nuts1908 nutty as a fruitcake1911 bugged1920 potty1920 cuckoo1923 nutsy1923 puggled1923 blah1924 détraqué1925 doolally1925 off one's rocket1925 puggle1925 mental1927 phooey1927 crackers1928 squirrelly1928 over the edge1929 round the bend1929 lakes1934 ding-a-ling1935 wacky1935 screwball1936 dingbats1937 Asiatic1938 parlatic1941 troppo1941 up the creek1941 screwed-up1943 bonkers1945 psychological1952 out to lunch1955 starkers1956 off (one's) squiff1960 round the twist1960 yampy1963 out of (also off) one's bird1966 out of one's skull1967 whacked out1969 batshit1971 woo-woo1971 nutso1973 out of (one's) gourd1977 wacko1977 off one's meds1986 1923 P. G. Wodehouse Inimitable Jeeves xvii. 241 He pottered about the room for a bit, babbling at intervals. The boy seemed cuckoo. 1926 H. V. O'Brien Wine, Women & War 75 (note) Wish my daughter would grow up like that... Seen her since. Certainly must have been cuckoo! 1928 Collier's 29 Dec. 28/1 When everything..failed to reduce Jack's bulk, I was nearly cuckoo with rage and fear. 1955 M. Gilbert Sky High vi. 76 Never asked for references?.. She must be cuckoo. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1933; most recently modified version published online March 2022). cuckoov. Brit. /ˈkʊkuː/, U.S. /ˈkuˌku/, /ˈkʊˌku/ Etymology: < cuckoo n. 1. intransitive. To utter the call of the cuckoo, or an imitation of it. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Cuculiformes (cuckoos, etc.) > [verb (intransitive)] > make sound (of cuckoo) galec1275 cuck1599 cuckoo1620 the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > sounds like animal or bird sounds > [verb (intransitive)] > cuckoo cuckoo1620 1620 S. Rowlands Night-raven 4 Nor with your hopping cage birds sing, Nor cuckow it about the spring. 1656 tr. J. A. Comenius Latinæ Linguæ Janua Reserata: Gate Lat. Tongue Unlocked xvi. §142 The Cuckoe which bewrayeth her self by cuckoing. 1879 S. Baring-Gould Germany II. 310 Clocks..some that strike, some that cuckoo. 2. transitive. To repeat incessantly and without variation. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > speech > repetition > repeat [verb (transitive)] > rapidly mechanically pitter-patterc1500 patter1531 pittle-pattle1549 rote?1606 parrot1640 cuckoo1648 chime1697 thrum1710 chant1812 poll-parrot1865 1648 Cuckows Nest in Harl. Misc. 1745 V. 552 These always..cuckow forth one Tune, No King, no King. 1822 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 12 633 He cuckooed the old song of reduction. 1857 E. FitzGerald Lett. (1889) I. 251 Their Religion and Philosophy..always seems to me cuckooed over like a borrowed thing. 3. To push out from the nest like a cuckoo. ΚΠ 1870 W. Thornbury Tour Eng. I. i. 19 The government had an eye on him, and soon cuckooed him out by passing a bill to prevent clergymen being representatives in parliament. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.c1240adj.1923v.1620
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cuckoon.

Compounds

cuckooadj.

cuckoov.