Where did "cock" come from?

I have been enlightened as to other meanings of "cock" besides a male bird thingy (%26amp; that other thingy).


It can be a mechanical device to stop gas or liquids. It can also be the object you whack in badminton, (shuttlecock).


So where did "cock" come from?


What was it's original purpose or meaning?


How did it evolve into so many meanings?


Could a sensible sentence be constructed using mostly "cock" %26amp; words containing "cock"?|||The word cock is probably ultimately of onomatopoeic origin, imitative of the male fowl鈥檚 call (like the lengthier English cock-a-doodle-doo (16th c.), French coquerico, and German kikeriki). Beyond that it is difficult to go with any certainty; it reflects similar words in other languages, such as medieval Latin coccus and Old Norse kokkr, but which if any the English word was borrowed from is not clear. It has been suggested that it goes back to a Germanic base *kuk-, of which a variant was the source of chicken, but typical Old English spellings, such as kok and kokke, suggest that it may have been a foreign borrowing rather than a native Germanic word 鈥?perhaps pointing to Germanic coccus. The origin of the interconnected set of senses 鈥榮pout, tap鈥? 鈥榟ammer of a firearm鈥? and 鈥榩enis鈥?is not known; it is possible that it represents an entirely different word, but the fact that German hahn 鈥榟en鈥?has the same meanings suggests otherwise.



Of derived words, cocker (19th c.), as in 鈥榗ocker spaniel鈥? comes from cocking, the sport of shooting woodcock, and cocky (18th c.) is probably based on the notion of the cock as a spirited or swaggering bird, lording it over his hens (there may well be some connection with cock 鈥榩enis鈥? too, for there is an isolated record of cocky meaning 鈥榣echerous鈥?in the 16th century). Cockerel (15th c.) was originally a diminutive form.



It's interesting isn't it? As to a sentence with all words containing cock... hmm...



So the cocky cockeral coc.ked his head and cock-a-doodle-dooed. Does that count? (I had to put that full stop in so it wasn't starred out)|||Word Origin %26amp; History





cock





O.E. cocc , O.Fr. coq , O.N. kokkr , all of echoic origin. O.E. cocc was a nickname for "one who strutted like a cock," thus a common term in the Middle Ages for a pert boy, used of scullions, apprentices, servants, etc. A common personal name till c.1500, it was affixed to Christian names as a pet diminutive, cf. Wilcox, Hitchcock , etc. Slang sense of "penis" is attested since 1618 (but cf. pillicock "penis," from c.1300); cock-teaser is from 1891. A cocker spaniel (1823) was trained to start woodcocks. Cock-and-bull is first recorded 1621, perhaps an allusion to Aesop's fables, with their incredible talking animals, or to a particular story, now forgotten. French has parallel expression coq-脿-l'芒ne .


cock





in various mechanical senses, such as cock of a faucet (late 15c.) is of uncertain connection with cock (n.1), but Ger. has hahn "hen" in many of the same senses. The cock of an old matchlock firearm is 1560s, hence half-****** "with the cock lifted to the first catch, at which position the trigger does not act."


cock





seeming contradictory senses of "to stand up" (as in cock one's ear ), c.1600, and "to bend" (1898) are from the two cock nouns. The first is probably in reference to the posture of the bird's head or tail, the second to the firearm position. To cock ones hat carries the notion of "defiant boastfulness" also in M.E. cocken (c.1150) "to fight."





Online Etymology Dictionary, 漏 2010 Douglas Harper|||I dont know the answer, but I find it so intresting that you are trying to learn about the origin of the word cock hahahahah good one. Let me know when u find out.