peacock

peacock
\ \ [14] The original English name of the ‘peacock’ in the Anglo-Saxon period was pēa.
\ \ This was borrowed from Latin pāvō, a word which appears to have been related to Greek taóspeacock’, and which also gave French paon, Italian pavone, and Spanish pavopeacock’. The Old English word is presumed to have survived into Middle English, as *pe, although no record of it survives, and in the 14th century it was formed into the compounds peacock and peahen to distinguish the sexes. The non-sex-specific peafowl is a 19th-century coinage.

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Peacock — Pea cock (p[=e] k[o^]k ), n. [OE. pecok. Pea in this word is from AS. pe[ a], p[=a]wa, peacock, fr. L. pavo, prob. of Oriental origin; cf. Gr. taw s, taw^s, Per. t[=a]us, t[=a]wus, Ar. t[=a]w[=u]s. See {Cock} the bird.] 1. (Zo[ o]l.) The male of… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • PEACOCK — PEACOCK, bird called ταως in Greek and tavvas in the Mishnah. The peacock (Pavo cristatus) is a ritually clean bird (see dietary laws ) belonging to the pheasant family. In mishnaic times some wealthy people in Ereẓ Israel bred the peacock as an… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

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  • PEACOCK (T. L.) — PEACOCK THOMAS LOVE (1785 1866) En 1812, Peacock rencontra Shelley; puis, en 1817, il passa quelques mois à Great Marlow en sa compagnie. Cette période joua un rôle décisif dans le développement de sa carrière d’écrivain. Les idées qui… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • peacock — [pē′käk΄] n. pl. peacocks or peacock [ME pacok < pa, peacock (< OE pea < early WGmc borrowing < L pavo, peacock, ? akin to Gr taōs, ? of Asian orig.) + cok,COCK1] 1. a) any male peafowl, esp., one of a species (Pavo cristatus) with a… …   English World dictionary

  • peacock — c.1300, poucock, from M.E. po peacock + coc (see COCK (Cf. cock) (n.)). Po is from O.E. pawa peafowl, from L. pavo (gen. pavonis), which, with Gk. taos said to be ultimately from Tamil tokei (but perhaps is imitative; Latin represented the… …   Etymology dictionary

  • Peacock —   [ piːkɔk],    1) George, britischer Mathematiker, * Denton (bei Darlington) 9. 4. 1791, ✝ Ely 8. 11. 1858; lehrte in Cambridge (ab 1837 als Professor) und wurde später Dechant von Ely. Peacock errang große Verdienste um die Neubelebung der… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • peacock — ► NOUN ▪ a large crested pheasant of which the male has very long tail feathers with eye like markings that can be fanned out in display. ORIGIN Old English, from Latin pavo peacock + COCK(Cf. ↑cock) …   English terms dictionary

  • Peacock — Peacock, Thomas Love …   Enciclopedia Universal

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