See Also: cockney(dictionary)
cockney(dictionary)

cockney (iou)



cockney noun & adjective. In senses A.4, B.2 also Cockney. LME.
[Prob. from COCK noun1 + -n- of genit. pl. + EY noun, = cock's egg: cf. German Hahnenei. Sense 2 assoc. with COCKER verb1.]
A. noun.
An egg; a small misshapen egg (= cock's egg s.v. COCK noun1). LME.
A pampered child; a milksop. Long obsolete exc. dial. LME.
b. A wanton or squeamish woman. Only in E17.
A person who lives in a town, regarded as effeminate, affected, or weakly. L16-E19.
A native of London, esp. of the East End or speaking its dialect; the dialect of the East End of London. Formerly somewhat derog. E17.
A young snapper fish. Austral. E20.
b. adjective.
Pampered, effeminate, squeamish; derog. characteristic of a town-dweller. Now arch. & dial. L16.
Pertaining to or characteristic of the London cockney. M17.
Cockney School (somewhat derog.) a group of 19th-cent. writers belonging to London, of whom Leigh Hunt was taken as the representative.
cockneydom noun the domain of cockneys; cockneys collectively: M19.
cockney'ess noun (now rare) a female cockney M19.
cockneyfi'cation noun making or becoming cockney in character L19.
cockneyfy verb trans. & intrans. make or become cockney in character E19.
cockneyish adjective somewhat cockney in character E19.
cockneyism noun (a) cockney quality; (b) a cockney characteristic (in idiom, pronunciation, etc.): E19.
cockneyize verb (a) verb trans. make cockney; (b) verb intrans. use cockneyisms: E19.