Link Centre Dictionary

cuckoo

cuc·koo

UK/ˈkʊkuː/ US/ˈkɵkʉw/ fairly common slang uk
noun (2) verb (1)

noun

1.
2.

any of numerous European and North American birds having pointed wings and a long tail

verb

1.

Origin

From Middle English cokkou, kokkow, cukkuk, gokkouȝ, probably from Old French cocu, coquu, cucu (whence French coucou); ultimately onomatopoeic of the song of the male Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), perhaps via Latin cucūlus (“cuckoo”). Compare dialectal English gowkoo (“cuckoo”). Displaced Middle English gnokken (“cuckoo”) and native Middle English yeke, ȝek (from Old English ġēac (“cuckoo”)), see English gowk. The UK sense is by analogy from the bird's practice of brood parasitism. The Malaysian and Singaporean sense is a calque of Hokkien 咕咕鳥 /咕咕鸟 (ku-kú-chiáu)

Phrases

  • African emerald cuckoo
  • Asian emerald cuckoo
  • black cuckoo-shrike
  • brush cuckoo
  • channel-bill cuckoo
  • channel-billed cuckoo
  • cloud cuckoo land
  • cloud cuckoo-land

Related words

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Parts

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.