cockney

[ kok-nee ]

/ ˈkɒk ni /

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.

a pampered child.
a squeamish, affected, or effeminate person.

adjective

(sometimes initial capital letter) of or relating to cockneys or their dialect.

Origin of cockney

1325–75; Middle English cokeney foolish person, literally, cock's egg (i.e., malformed egg), equivalent to coken, genitive plural of cok cock¹ + ey, Old English æg; cognate with German Ei, Old Norse egg egg¹

Related formscock·ney·ish, adjectivecock·ney·ish·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for cockney

“Yes, I do,” he says with a Cockney accent so thick Judge Whitehead asks him to deliver his testimony while facing him.
The Stacks: The Judas Priest Teen Suicide Trial|Ivan Solotaroff|June 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They have been in situ all week, with tents, Union Jacks, and lashings of cockney wisdom.
Superfans Take Over Westminster Abbey|Tom Sykes|April 29, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Characters in the soap Eastenders, which charts the lives of cockney Londoners, call their children Chelsea.
Chelsy Davy, Prince Harry's Hard-Partying Royal Wedding Date|Tom Sykes|April 26, 2011|DAILY BEAST
The punk movement started here, as did the infamous Cockney Rhyming Slang.
Gal With a Suitcase|Jolie Hunt|November 21, 2009|DAILY BEAST

Geoff could almost have fancied there was a cockney twang about it.
Great Uncle Hoot-Toot|Mrs. Molesworth
"Thou shall not be a snob;" such is the first principle at present of Cockney ethics.
The International Monthly, Volume 3, No. 4, July, 1851|Various
There was the faintest hint of Cockney impurity about the vowel sounds.
Mortal Coils|Aldous Huxley
It was not till the beginning of the 17th century that “cockney” appears to be confined to the inhabitants of London.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 6|Various
“He is the greatest liar on (H) earth”—as the cockney said of the lapdog he often saw lying before the fire.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 1, December 18, 1841|Various

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 Formscockneyish, 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

Word Origin and History for cockney

cockney

c.1600, usually said to be from rare Middle English cokenei, cokeney "spoiled child, milksop" (late 14c.), originally cokene-ey "cock's egg" (mid-14c.). Most likely disentangling of the etymology is to start from Old English cocena "cock's egg" -- genitive plural of coc "cock" + æg "egg" -- medieval term for "runt of a clutch," extended derisively c.1520s to "town dweller," gradually narrowing thereafter to residents of a particular neighborhood in the East End of London. Liberman, however, disagrees:

[I]n all likelihood, not the etymon of ME cokeney 'milksop, simpleton; effeminate man; Londoner,' which is rather a reshaping of [Old French] acoquiné 'spoiled' (participle). However, this derivation poses some phonetic problems that have not been resolved.

The accent so called from 1890, but the speech peculiarities were noted from 17c. As an adjective in this sense, from 1630s.