cuckoo

cuckoo

English

Etymology

From Middle English cokkou, probably from Old French cucu (whence French coucou); ultimately onomatopoeic of the song of the male Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), perhaps via Latin cucūlus (“cuckoo”). Displaced native Old English ġēac (> modern dialect yek (“cuckoo”)).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkʊk.uː/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkuː.kuː/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʊkuː, -uːkuː
• Hyphenation: cuc‧koo

Noun

cuckoo (countable and uncountable, plural cuckoos)

1. Any of various birds, of the family Cuculidae, famous for laying its eggs in the nests of other species; but especially a common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), that has a characteristic two-note call.
   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act V, scene i]:

     He knows me, as the blind man knows the cuckoo, / By the bad voice.

2. The sound of that particular bird.
3. The bird-shaped figure found in cuckoo clocks.
4. The cuckoo clock itself.
5. A person who inveigles themselves into a place where they should not be (used especially in the phrase a cuckoo in the nest).
6. (slang) Someone who is crazy.
7. Alternative form of coo-coo (“Barbadian food”)

Derived terms

• black cuckoo-shrike
• brush cuckoo
• channel-bill cuckoo
• channel-billed cuckoo
• cloud-cuckoo-land
• cloud cuckoo land
• cloud cuckoo-land
• cuckoo-bread
• cuckoo catfish
• cuckoo clock
• cuckoo dove
• cuckoo-dove (Columbinae spp.)
• cuckoo hashing
• cuckoo-hawk
• cuckoo pint
• cuckoo-pint (“Arum italicum”)
• cuckoo roller
• cuckoo's egg
• cuckoo shrike (Campephagidae spp.)
• cuckoo sign
• cuckoo spit
• cuckoo wasp
• drongo cuckoo
• hawk-cuckoo
• Jacobin cuckoo
• little bronze cuckoo
• Philippine cuckoo-dove
• pied crested cuckoo
• pied cuckoo
• rufous-vented ground-cuckoo

 

Related terms

• cuculine (rare)

Translations

the bird

Albanian: qyqe (sq) f Arabic: وَقْوَاق‎ m (waqwāq) Armenian: կկու (hy) (kku) Asturian: cucu m Bashkir: кәкүк (käkük) Basque: kuku Belarusian: зязю́ля (zjazjúlja) Breton: koukoug (br) Bulgarian: ку́кувица (bg) f (kúkuvica), кукуви́ца (bg) f (kukuvíca) Burushaski: kapo Catalan: cucut (ca) m Chechen: оттйокх (ottjoq) Chinese: Mandarin: 杜鵑／杜鹃 (zh) (dùjuān), 布穀鳥／布谷鸟 (zh) (bùgǔniǎo) Chukchi: ӄэӄӄуӄ (qėqquq), ӄэӄуӄ (qėquq), ӄэӄучьын (qėqučʹyn) Cornish: koukou f Czech: kukačka (cs) f Danish: gøg (da) c Dutch: koekoek (nl) m Erzya: куко (kuko) Esperanto: kukolo (eo) Estonian: kägu (et) Faroese: geykur m Finnish: käki (fi) French: coucou (fr) m Friulian: cuc, cuců, cucuc Galician: cuco m, cuquelo m Georgian: გუგული (guguli) German: Kuckuck (de) m Greek: κούκος (el) (koúkos) Ancient: κόκκυξ m (kókkux) Hebrew: קוּקִיָה‎ f (kukiyá) Hindi: कोयल (hi) f (koyal), कोकिला (hi) m (kokilā) Hungarian: kakukk (hu) Icelandic: gaukur (is) m Ido: kukulo (io) Inari Sami: kiehâ Interlingua: cucu Irish: cuach f Italian: cuculo (it) m, cucù (it) m Japanese: 郭公 (ja) (かっこう, kakkō), カッコウ (ja) (kakkō) Karakalpak: a'tsho'k Kazakh: көкек (kk) (kökek) Ket: ӄоӄпунь (qoqpunʼ) Khakas: кӧӧк (köök) Korean: 뻐꾸기 (ppeokkugi), 두견새 (ko) (dugyeonsae) Kumyk: атъёкъ (atyoq) Ladin: cuch Latgalian: dzagiuze Latin: cuculus m Latvian: dzeguze (lv) f Lithuanian: gegutė (lt) f Livonian: keg, kukūlind Low German: Kuukuuk (nds) m, kukuuk m Lower Sorbian: kukawa Lule Sami: giehka, ránatjalådde Luxembourgish: Guckuck m Macedonian: кука́вица f (kukávica) Malay: please add this translation if you can Malayalam: കുയിൽ (ml) (kuyil); കോകിലം (ml) (kōkilaṃ) (poetic) Maltese: daqquqa kaħla f Manx: cooag f Maori: kokoea Norman: coucou m Norwegian: Bokmål: gjøk (no) m, gauk m Nynorsk: gauk m Occitan: coguol (oc) m, coguou (oc) m, cocut (oc) m Old English: ġēac m Old Norse: gaukr m Persian: کوکو‎ (fa) (kuku) Polish: kukułka (pl) f Portuguese: cuco (pt) m Romani: kukuriezo m, chuhuriezo m, kukuriashka f, chuhuriashka f Romanian: cuc (ro) Romansch: cucu Russian: куку́шка (ru) f (kukúška) Sami: giehka Sanskrit: कोकिल (sa) m (kokila) Sardinian: cucu, cucui, cucuperra, cucuperrai, cucuevvai, cucumarei Scottish Gaelic: cuthag f, cuach f Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: кукавица f Roman: kukavica (sh) f Shor: кӧӧк (köök) Skolt Sami: ǩiõkk Slovak: kukučka (sk) f Slovene: kukavica (sl) f Southern Sami: gïege Spanish: cuco (es) m, cuclillo (es) m Sudovian: geguze f Swahili: kekeo Swedish: gök (sv) c Tagalog: kakok Tajik: фохтак (foxtak), куку (kuku), олучахӯрак (olučaxürak) Tamil: குயில் (ta) (kuyil) Telugu: కోకిల (te) (kōkila) Turkish: guguk (tr), guguk kuşu (tr) Turkmen: ikatäk Ukrainian: зозу́ля f (zozúlja) Upper Sorbian: kokula Urdu: کویل‎ f (koyal) Uzbek: kakkuqush, kakku (uz) Veps: kägi Vietnamese: chim cu, họ cu cu Volapük: kukuk (vo) Võro: kägo Walloon: coucou (wa) m Welsh: cog, cogau f pl, cwcw f West Frisian: koekoek (fy) Westrobothnian: gauk m, guku m Yakut: кэҕэ (keğe) Yiddish: קוקו‎ (kuku)

the sound

Bulgarian: кукане n (kukane) Finnish: kukunta (fi), kukkuu (fi) French: coucou (fr) m, coucoulement (fr) m Greek: Ancient Greek: κόκκυ (kókku) Hungarian: kakukk (hu) Italian: cu cu Kazakh: көк-көк (kök-kök) Latgalian: kiukuot Latvian: kūkot Lithuanian: kukuoti Macedonian: ку-ку (ku-ku) Mongolian: гүүг гүүг (güüg güüg), гүг гүү (güg güü) Norwegian: ko-ko (no) n Russian: ку-ку (ru) (ku-ku) Swedish: kucku (sv) Turkish: guguk (tr) Vietnamese: cu cu (vi)

bird-shaped figure in cuckoo clock

Finnish: käki (fi)

cuckoo clock — See also translations at cuckoo clock

someone crazy — See also translations at crazy

Bulgarian: чалнат (bg) m (čalnat) Chinese: Mandarin: 狂者 French: coucou (fr) m Hungarian: zakkant, lökött (hu), buggyant (hu), dilis (hu) Japanese: 風狂の人 (fūkyōnohito) Russian: ку-ку́ (ru) (ku-kú)

Verb

cuckoo (third-person singular simple present cuckoos, present participle cuckooing, simple past and past participle cuckooed)

1. To make the call of a cuckoo.
2. To repeat something incessantly. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

   Synonym: parrot

Translations

to make the call of a cuckoo

Bulgarian: кукам (kukam) Finnish: kukkua (fi) French: coucouler (fr) Hungarian: kakukkol Macedonian: кука (kuka) Manchu: ᡨ᠋ᠣᠩᠰᡳᠮᠪᡳ Maori: kūī Mongolian: Classical Mongolian: ᠱᠣᠭᠱᠤᠤᠷᠯᠠᠮᠦᠢ (šoɣšuurlamüi̯) Polish: kukać (pl) impf Russian: куковать (ru) impf (kukovatʹ) Swedish: gala (sv)

to repeat something incessantly

Bulgarian: повтарям монотонно (povtarjam monotonno) Finnish: hokea (fi) Hungarian: ismételget (hu), szajkóz (hu) Macedonian: вергла (vergla) Polish: gęgać (pl) impf

Adjective

cuckoo (comparative more cuckoo, superlative most cuckoo)

1. (slang) Crazy; not sane.

   I think I'm going cuckoo!

Derived terms

• cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs
• cuckooness