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peacockery

 - 2 dictionary results

pea⋅cock

  [pee-kok] noun, plural -cocks, (especially collectively) -cock. verb
Use peacockery in a Sentence
–noun
1. the male of the peafowl distinguished by its long, erectile, greenish, iridescent tail coverts that are brilliantly marked with ocellated spots and that can be spread in a fan.
2. any peafowl.
3. a vain, self-conscious person.
4. (initial capital letter) Astronomy. the constellation Pavo.
–verb (used without object)
5. to make a vainglorious display; strut like a peacock.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME pecok, equiv. to pe- (OE pēa peafowl < L pāvōn- pavo) + cok (OE coc cock 1 )

Related forms:
pea⋅cock⋅er⋅y, peacockism, noun
peacockish, peacocky, adjective
pea⋅cock⋅ish⋅ly, adverb
pea⋅cock⋅ish⋅ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Word Origin & History

peacock 
c.1300, poucock, from M.E. po "peacock" + coc (see 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; L. represented the peacock's sound as paupulo). The L. word also is the source of O.H.G. pfawo, Ger. Pfau, Du. pauw, O.C.S. pavu. Used as the type of a vainglorious person from c.1374. Its flesh superstitiously believed to be incorruptible (even St. Augustine credits this). "When he sees his feet, he screams wildly, thinking that they are not in keeping with the rest of his body." [Epiphanus]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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