cosset

cosset
\ \ [17] Cosset may originally have meant ‘someone who lives in a cottage’. Old English had a word cotsǣtacottager’, which was formed from cotcottage’ and *sǣt-, an element related to the verb sit. This disappeared from the language after the Old English period, but not before it was adopted into Anglo-Norman as cozet or coscet (forms which appear in Domesday Book). It has been suggested that this is the same word as turns up in local dialects from the 16th century meaning ‘lamb reared by hand, pet lamb’ (that is, a lamb kept by a cottager rather than at liberty with the flock), and further that the notion of pampering a pet lamb gave rise to the verb cosset.

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Cosset — Cos set, v. t. To treat as a pet; to fondle. [1913 Webster] She was cosseted and posseted and prayed over and made much of. O. W. Holmes. || …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Cosset — Cos set (k?s s?t), n. [Cf. AS. cotsetla cottager, G. kossat, kothsasse, fr. kot, koth E. (cot) hut, and cf. also E. cade, a., cot a cade lamb.] A lamb reared without the aid of the dam. Hence: A pet, in general. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • cosset — 1650s, to fondle, caress, indulge, from a noun (1570s) meaning lamb brought up as a pet (applied to persons from 1590s), perhaps from O.E. cot sæta one who dwells in a cot. Related: Coseted; coseting. Cf. Ger. Hauslamm, It. casiccio …   Etymology dictionary

  • cosset — *caress, fondle, pet, cuddle, dandle …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • cosset — meaning ‘to pamper’, has inflected forms cosseted, cosseting …   Modern English usage

  • cosset — ► VERB (cosseted, cosseting) ▪ care for and protect in an overindulgent way. ORIGIN orginally denoting a lamb brought up by hand, later a spoiled child: probably from Old English, cottar …   English terms dictionary

  • cosset — [käs′it] n. [< ? OE cot sæta, cot dweller; similar in sense to It casiccio (< casa, house), pet lamb] a pet lamb or any small pet vt. to make a pet of; fondle; pamper …   English World dictionary

  • Cosset — François Cosset († 1673) war ein französischer Komponist. Cosset entstammte der Picardie. 1628 wurde er Succentor an der Kathedrale von St. Quentin. Weitere Ämter als Kapellmeister der Kathedralen von Laon, Senlis, Paris, Reims und Amiens folgten …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • cosset — [17] Cosset may originally have meant ‘someone who lives in a cottage’. Old English had a word cotsǣta ‘cottager’, which was formed from cot ‘cottage’ and *sǣt , an element related to the verb sit. This disappeared from the language after the Old …   The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins

  • cosset — UK [ˈkɒsɪt] / US [ˈkɑsət] verb [transitive] Word forms cosset : present tense I/you/we/they cosset he/she/it cossets present participle cosseting past tense cosseted past participle cosseted formal to give someone a lot of care and attention,… …   English dictionary

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