coney

coney
   This was at one time the normal word for a rabbit. It was used as a term of endearment for a woman in the sixteenth century, but died away in the seventeenth century. It was at that time pronounced to rhyme with honey, and inevitably took on an indecent sense because of its nearness to ‘cunt’. Beaumont and Fletcher no doubt knew that the groundlings would make the connection when they had the citizen, in The Knight of the Burning Pestle, address his wife by this term on many occasions.

A dictionary of epithets and terms of address . . 2015.

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  • Coney — Coney, cony or cunny may refer to: Contents 1 Places 2 Animal 3 Food 4 People 5 Ships …   Wikipedia

  • Coney — Côney Côney Pont du Potet à Fontenoy le Château Caractéristiques Longueur 55 km Bassin …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Côney — Brücke über den Côney in Fontenoy le ChâteauVorlage:Infobox Fluss/KARTE fehlt …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Coney — ist der Name des Saône Nebenflusses Côney in Frankreich der Halbinsel Coney Island auf Long Island in New York, USA der kleinen Bermuda Insel Coney Island Coney ist ferner der englische Name des Karibik Juwelenbarsches (Cephalopholis fulva) Coney …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Côney — The Côney at Fontenoy le Château Origin Dounoux …   Wikipedia

  • coney — c.1200, from Anglo Fr. conis, pl. of conil long eared rabbit (Lepus cunicula) from L. cuniculus (Cf. Sp. conejo, Port. coelho, It. coneglio), the small, Spanish variant of the Italian hare (L. lepus), the word perhaps from Iberian Celtic… …   Etymology dictionary

  • Coney — Co ney (? or ?), n. 1. (Zo[ o]l.) A rabbit. See {Cony}. [1913 Webster] 2. (Zo[ o]l.) A fish. See {Cony}. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Coney — Coney, linker Nebenfluß der Saone …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Coney — Coney, Island …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • coney — (also cony) ► NOUN (pl. coneys) Brit. ▪ a rabbit. ORIGIN Old French conin, from Latin cuniculus …   English terms dictionary

  • coney — [kō′nē] n. pl. coneys or conies [ME coni (taken as sing. of OFr conis) < OFr conin, conil (pl. conis) < L cuniculus, rabbit] 1. a kind of rabbit or a pika: early term no longer in scientific use 2. rabbit fur 3. a small animal mentioned in… …   English World dictionary

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