cockatrice
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cockatrice
- /ˈkɒkətɹaɪs/
- /ˈkɒkətɹɪs/
Where it comes from
From Middle English cocatrice, from Old French cocatriz (“basilisk, cockatrice”), from Late Latin calcātrīx (“female trampler, treader”), from Latin calcāre (“to trample, to walk upon, to oppress”) + -trīx (“-ess: forming feminine agentives”), from calx (“heel”). Its eventual association with poultry influenced by cock (“rooster, male chicken”), q.v.
noun cockatrices
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Synonym of basilisk, a serpentine dragon so poisonous that even its gaze is deadly.
Vp on the eddere and the kokatrice thou shalt go
Similar: basilisk
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A monster with a lethal gaze or breath, originally believed to originate from a cock egg brooded over by a snake or toad, later specifically combining serpentine and landfowl features and particularly (heraldry) a rooster-headed wyvern.
A forlyued cok leiþ eiren in his laste elde... and ȝif any venemous worme sittiþ on broode þerevppon in þe canyculer dayes, þerof is igendrid... a cocatrice.
Similar: basilicock
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Synonym of crocodile.
Similar: crocodile
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An evil, deceitful, or destructive person.
... this little cockatrice of a king ...
Similar: antimodel, bad guy, baddie, bastard, beggar, blackguard, bounder, cad, cockatrice, coistril, evildoer, fustilarian
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Synonym of whore, a female prostitute, a sexually promiscuous woman.
Similar: whore
Translations
Talk about this word "cockatrice." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/cockatrice. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. cockatrice. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/cockatrice "cockatrice." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/cockatrice.Cite this
@misc{cockatrice_2026,
title = {cockatrice},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/cockatrice},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
