cuckold

[kuhk-uh ld]

See more synonyms for cuckold on Thesaurus.com

noun

the husband of an unfaithful wife.

verb (used with object)

to make a cuckold of (a husband).

Origin of cuckold

1200–50; Middle English cukeweld, later cok(k)ewold, cukwold < Anglo-French *cucuald (compare Middle French cucuault), equivalent to Old French cocu cuckoo + -ald, -alt pejorative suffix (see ribald); apparently orig. applied to an adulterer, in allusion to the cuckoo's habit of laying its eggs in other birds' nests

Related formscuck·old·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for cuckold

milksop, pushover, coward, wimp, crybaby, namby-pamby, baby, pantywaist, chicken, cuckold, pansy, daisy, wuss, jellyfish

Examples from the Web for cuckold

Contemporary Examples of cuckold

By definition, of course, a cuckold is the “husband of an adulteress.”
The Cuckolding Fetish: When Your Wife’s Cheating Turns You On
Aurora Snow
February 22, 2014

Historical Examples of cuckold

How long was she going to bother herself in her cuckold's behalf?
Nana, The Miller's Daughter, Captain Burle, Death of Olivier Becaille
Emile Zola
I knew what I was about, and did not fear to be made a cuckold in spite of myself.
The Memoires of Casanova, Complete
Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
Speak, I say, have you considered what it is to cuckold your husband?
The Comedies of William Congreve
William Congreve
Right; and who so fit to make a man a Cuckold, as hee that keepes his wife?
Kemps Nine Daies Wonder
William Kemp
And while the Colonel laughed at the cuckold, the cuckold laughed at the dupe.
Eugene Aram, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton

British Dictionary definitions for cuckold

cuckold

noun

a man whose wife has committed adultery, often regarded as an object of scorn

verb

(tr) to make a cuckold of

Derived Formscuckoldry, noun

Word Origin for cuckold

C13 cukeweld, from Old French cucuault, from cucu cuckoo; perhaps an allusion to the parasitic cuckoos that lay their eggs in the nests of other birds

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 cuckold

mid-13c., kukewald, from Old French cucuault, from cocu (see cuckoo) + pejorative suffix -ault, of Germanic origin. So called from the female bird's alleged habit of changing mates, or her authentic habit of leaving eggs in another bird's nest.

In Modern French the identity is more obvious: Coucou for the bird and cocu for the betrayed husband. German Hahnrei (13c.), from Low German, is of obscure origin. The second element seems to be connected to words for "ardent," and suggests perhaps "sexually aggressive hen," with transferal to humans, but Kluge suggests rather a connection to words for "capon" and "castrated." Related: Cuckoldry.

1580s, from cuckold (n.). Related: Cuckolded; cuckolding.