different between cony vs conk

English

Alternative forms

• (rabbit): coney, cunny, connie

Etymology

From Middle English coni, from conies, borrowed from Anglo-Norman conis, the plural of conil, from Vulgar Latin *cuniclus (“rabbit”), from Latin cuniculus (“rabbit”), from Ancient Greek ???????? (kúniklos). The original pronunciation was /?k?ni/ (for the spelling compare honey and money), but the similarity to cunt (and particularly homophony with cunny) led through taboo avoidance both to the word's displacement in the main by rabbit and bunny and to the spelling pronunciation /?k??ni/ becoming standard. Compare Galician coello, Portuguese coelho, Italian coniglio, and Spanish conejo.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?k??ni/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?ko?ni/

  Rhymes: -??ni

Noun

cony (plural conies)

1. A rabbit, especially the European rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus (formerly known as Lepus cuniculus).
2. (Britain, dialect) Rabbit fur.
3. Locally for other rabbit-like or hyrax-like animals, such as the Cape hyrax (das, dassie) or the pika (Ochotona princeps, formerly Lagomys princeps).
   1. Used in the Old Testament as a translation of Hebrew ??????? (shafan), thought to be the rock hyrax (Procavia capensis, syn. Hyrax syriacus).
4. (obsolete) A simpleton; one who may be taken in by a cony-catcher.
   • 1599, Diet's Dry Dinner:

     It is a most simple animal; whence are derived our usual phrases of cony and cony catcher.

5. An edible West Indian fish, a grouper given in different sources as: Epinephelus apua, the hind of Bermuda; nigger-fish, Epinephelus punctatus; Cephalopholis fulva.
6. Several species of tropical west Atlantic groupers of family Epinephelidae, such as the mutton hamlet, graysby, Cuban coney, and rooster hind.
7. (Britain, dialect) The burbot.
8. (obsolete) A woman; a sweetheart.

Synonyms

• (rabbit): bunny, hare
• (tropical West Atlantic groupers): coney
• (burbot): coney-fish

Translations

References

• cony in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• C[harles] T[albut] Onions, editor (1973) , “cony”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 3rd edition, Oxford: The Clarendon Press, OCLC 639811675, page 420
• The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3.

Anagrams

• coyn, cyno-, cyon

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin cunnus, compare Portuguese cona and Spanish coño.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /?ko?/

Noun

cony m (plural conys)

1. (vulgar) vagina; vulva

Interjection

cony!

1. (vulgar) Expression of frustration or surprise.

Alternative forms

• coi (euphemistic)

Further reading

• “cony” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “cony” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “cony” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “cony” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /k??k/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /k??k/
• Rhymes: -??k

Etymology 1

Variant or figurative use of conch. Attested since the nineteenth century.

Alternative forms

• konk

Noun

conk (plural conks)

1. The shelf- or bracket-shaped fruiting body of a bracket fungus (also called a shelf fungus), i.e. a mushroom growing off a tree trunk.
2. (slang) A nose, especially a large one.
3. Alternative spelling of conch

Translations

Verb

conk (third-person singular simple present conks, present participle conking, simple past and past participle conked)

1. (slang) To hit, especially on the head.

Related terms

• conk out

Translations

Etymology 2

From congolene, the brand name of a hair-straightening product.

Noun

conk (plural conks)

1. (US, dated) A hairstyle involving the chemical straightening and styling of kinky hair.

Verb

conk (third-person singular simple present conks, present participle conking, simple past and past participle conked)

1. (US, dated) To chemically straighten tightly curled hair.
   • 1957, James Baldwin, “Sonny’s Blues,” in Going to Meet the Man, Dial, 1965,^[1]

     The barbecue cook, wearing a dirty white apron, his conked hair reddish and metallic in the pale sun, and a cigarette between his lips, stood in the doorway, watching them.

Translations

Etymology 3

Origin unknown. Attested since the early twentieth century.

Verb

conk (third-person singular simple present conks, present participle conking, simple past and past participle conked)

1. (colloquial, often with out) To fail or show signs of failing, cease operating, break down, become unconscious.

References

Anagrams

• Nock, nock