cuckoo

== English == === Etymology === 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) === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈkʊkuː/ (Standard Southern British) IPA(key): /ˈkɵkʉw/ (US) IPA(key): /ˈkuku/ (Scotland, Northern Ireland) IPA(key): /ˈkʉkʉ/ Rhymes: -ʊkuː, -uːkuː Hyphenation: cuc‧koo === Noun === cuckoo (countable and uncountable, plural cuckoos) Any of various birds, of the family Cuculidae within the order Cuculiformes, famous for laying its eggs in the nests of other species; but especially a common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), that has a characteristic two-note call. The sound of that particular bird. The bird-shaped figure found in cuckoo clocks. The cuckoo clock itself. A person who inveigles themselves into a place where they should not be (used especially in the phrase a cuckoo in the nest). (slang) Someone who is crazy. Alternative form of coo-coo (Barbadian food). (colloquial, Manglish, Singlish) Alternative form of ku ku jiao (the penis) Synonyms: cuckoo bird, ku ku bird ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== cuculine (rare) ==== Descendants ==== → Welsh: cwcw ==== Translations ==== === Verb === cuckoo (third-person singular simple present cuckoos, present participle cuckooing, simple past and past participle cuckooed) To make the call of a cuckoo. To repeat something incessantly. (Can we add an example for this sense?) Synonym: parrot (UK, law enforcement) To take over the home of a vulnerable person for the purposes of carrying out organized crime in a concealed way. ==== Translations ==== === Adjective === cuckoo (comparative more cuckoo, superlative most cuckoo) (slang) Crazy; not sane. ==== Derived terms ==== cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs cuckooness