Link Centre Dictionary

cockney

cock·ney

UK/ˈkɒk.ni/ US/ˈkɑkni/ uncommon obsolete slang uk
adjective (2) noun (2)

adjective

1.

characteristic of Cockneys or their dialect

  • “cockney vowels”
2.

relating to or resembling a cockney

  • “Cockney street urchins”

noun

1.

a native of the east end of London

2.

the nonstandard dialect of natives of the east end of London

Origin

First attested in Samuel Rowland's 1600 The Letting of Humours Blood in the Head-Vaine as "a Bowe-bell Cockney", from Middle English cokenay (“a spoiled child; a milksop, an effeminate man”), used in the 16th c. by English country folk as a term of disparagement for city dwellers, of uncertain etymology. Possibly from Middle English cokeney (“a small, misshapen egg”), from coken (“cocks'(rooster’s)”) + ey (“egg”) or from Cockney and Cocknay, variants of Cockaigne, a mythical land of luxury (first attested in 1305) eventually used as a humorous epithet of London. Compare cocker (“to spoil a child”).

Phrases

  • Irish cockney

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.