cuckquean

English

WOTD – 5 May 2012

Alternative forms

• cucquean

Etymology

Blend of cuckold +‎ quean (“disreputable woman”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkʌk.kwiːn/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Noun

cuckquean (plural cuckqueans)

1. A woman who has an unfaithful husband.

   Coordinate terms: cuckold, wittol (archaic), cot-quean (obsolete)

   • 1562, John Heywood, The Proverbs and Epigrams of John Heywood (A.D. 1562), Reprint edition, Spenser Society, published 1867, page 62:

     Ye make hir a cookqueane.

   • 1897, William Kirby, “Weird Sisters”, in The Golden Dog‎^[1], Reprint edition (Fiction), Echo Library, published 2009, →ISBN, page 289:

     Yes, that's her name! His cuckquean she is; his wife she is not and never shall be!

   • 2007 September 13, Judith Warner, “Horned and Scorned”, in New York Times‎^[2], retrieved 2012-09-12:

     A formidable woman of real power and prestige, she emerged from the Monica affair much more cuckold than cuckquean. Her husband’s perfidy did, in a sense, disturb the natural order of things; in the post-feminist age, ...

   • 2010, Robert K. Tanenbaum, Betrayed‎^[3], Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 4:

     The rumors about his serial philandering had been out there for years, but a friendly liberal press had not tried very hard to confirm the allegations, and the missus was apparently resigned to the role of a stoic cuckquean.

2. (fetish) A woman who is attracted to or aroused by the sexual infidelity of a partner.

Translations

woman who has an unfaithful husband

• French: cocue (fr) f
• Portuguese: corna (pt) f (informally)

Verb

cuckquean (third-person singular simple present cuckqueans, present participle cuckqueaning, simple past and past participle cuckqueaned)

1. (transitive) To make a woman into a cuckquean.

Translations

To make a woman into a cuckquean

• Finnish: pettää (fi)
• Russian: наста́вить рога́ (ru) (nastávitʹ rogá)