Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Cuckold?

\Cuck"old\ (k?k"?ld), n. [OE. kukeweld, cokewold, cokold, fr. OF. coucoul, cucuault, the last syllable being modified by the OE. suffix -wold (see {Herald}); cf. F. cocu a cuckold, formerly also, a cuckoo, and L. cuculus a cuckoo. The word alludes to the habit of the female cuckoo, who lays her eggs in the nests of other birds, to be hatched by them.] 1. A man whose wife is unfaithful; the husband of an adulteress. --Shak. 2. (Zo["o]l.) (a) A West Indian plectognath fish ({Ostracion triqueter}). (b) The cowfish.
\Cuck"old\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Cuckolded}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Cuckolding}.] To make a cuckold of, as a husband, by seducing his wife, or by her becoming an adulteress. --Shak.