Origin: 1200–50; ME cukeweld, later cok(k)ewold, cukwold < AF *cucuald (cf. MF cucuault), equiv. to OF cocucuckoo+ -ald,-alt pejorative suffix (see ribald); appar. orig. applied to an adulterer, in allusion to the cuckoo's habit of laying its eggs in other birds' nests
c.1250, from O.Fr. cucuault, from cucu (see cuckoo) + pejorative suffix. So called from the female bird's alleged habit of changing mates, or her authentic habit of leaving eggs in another bird's nest. The verb is 1589, from the noun.
[kuhk-uh
ld] 