Dictionary.com

cockney

[ kok-nee ]
/ ˈkɒk ni /
Save This Word!

noun, plural cock·neys.
(sometimes initial capital letter) a native or inhabitant of the East End district of London, England, traditionally, one born and reared within the sound of Bow bells.
(sometimes initial capital letter) the pronunciation or dialect of cockneys.
Obsolete.
  1. a pampered child.
  2. a squeamish, affected, or effeminate person.
adjective
(sometimes initial capital letter) of or relating to cockneys or their dialect.
QUIZ
CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?
There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?
Question 1 of 7
Which sentence is correct?

Origin of cockney

1325–75; Middle English cokeney foolish person, literally, cock's egg (i.e., malformed egg), equivalent to coken, genitive plural of cokcock1 + ey,Old English æg; cognate with German Ei,Old Norse eggegg1

OTHER WORDS FROM cockney

cock·ney·ish, adjectivecock·ney·ish·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use cockney in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for cockney

cockney
/ (ˈkɒknɪ) /

noun
(often capital) a native of London, esp of the working class born in the East End, speaking a characteristic dialect of English. Traditionally defined as someone born within the sound of the bells of St Mary-le-Bow church
the urban dialect of London or its East End
Australian a young snapper fish
adjective
characteristic of cockneys or their dialect of English

Derived forms of cockney

cockneyish, adjective

Word Origin for cockney

C14: from cokeney, literally: cock's egg, later applied contemptuously to townsmen, from cokene, genitive plural of cok cock 1 + ey egg 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
FEEDBACK