cuckold
[kuhk-uh ld]
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
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Related Words for cuckold
milksop, pushover, coward, wimp, crybaby, namby-pamby, baby, pantywaist, chicken, pansy, daisy, wuss, jellyfishExamples from the Web for cuckold
Contemporary Examples of cuckold
By definition, of course, a cuckold is the “husband of an adulteress.”
Historical Examples of cuckold
How long was she going to bother herself in her cuckold's behalf?
I knew what I was about, and did not fear to be made a cuckold in spite of myself.
The Memoires of Casanova, CompleteJacques Casanova de Seingalt
Speak, I say, have you considered what it is to cuckold your husband?
The Comedies of William CongreveWilliam Congreve
Right; and who so fit to make a man a Cuckold, as hee that keepes his wife?
Kemps Nine Daies WonderWilliam Kemp
And while the Colonel laughed at the cuckold, the cuckold laughed at the dupe.
Eugene Aram, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
cuckold
noun
verb
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
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