peacock

peacock
I. noun Etymology: Middle English pecok, from pe- (from Old English pēa peafowl, from Latin pavon-, pavo peacock) + cok cock Date: 14th century 1. a male peafowl distinguished by a crest of upright feathers and by greatly elongated loosely webbed upper tail coverts which are mostly tipped with iridescent spots and are erected and spread in a shimmering fan usually as a courtship display; broadly peafowl 2. one making a proud display of oneself ; show-offpeacockish adjectivepeacocky adjective II. intransitive verb Date: 1818 show off

New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Peacock — (engl. für Pfau) bezeichnet: einen Stern, siehe Alpha Pavonis eine Computerfirma, Actebis Peacock GmbH eine Stadt in Texas, Peacock (Texas) ein amerikanisches Plattenlabel, Peacock Records eine Winterthurer Punk /Rockabilly und Psychobillyband,… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • 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

  • Peacock — Constelación Pavo Ascensión recta α 20h 35min 38.9s Declinación δ 56° 44’ 06’’ Distancia …   Wikipedia Español

  • 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

  • Peacock — Peacock, Thomas Love (1785 1866) a British writer and poet who used ↑satire (=a way of writing in which you make someone seem funny in order to show their faults) to criticize the politicians and writers of his time. His most famous works are… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”