Unnumbered source etymology
Original entry ↗A rabbit, especially the European rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus (formerly known as Lepus cuniculus). · Rabbit fur. · Locally for other rabbit-like or hyrax-like animals, such as the Cape hyrax (das, dassie) or the pika (Ochotona princeps, formerly Lagomys princeps). · Used in the Old Testament as a translation of Hebrew שָׁפָן (shafán), thought to be the rock hyrax (Procavia capensis, syn. Hyrax syriacus).
From Middle English cony, back formation from conies (plural), from Anglo-Norman conis, the plural of connil (“rabbit”), from Latin cunīculus, of unknown origin. Cognate to Catalan conill, Dutch konijn, German Kaninchen, Spanish conejo, and Portuguese coelho. The original pronunciation was /ˈkʌni/ (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 /ˈkəʊni/ becoming standard.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
This page abbreviates 5 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "coni",
"4": "cony"
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"expansion": "Middle English cony"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
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"3": "conis"
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"expansion": "Anglo-Norman conis"
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{
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"2": "la",
"3": "cunīculus"
},
"expansion": "Latin cunīculus"
},
{
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"2": "conill"
},
"expansion": "Catalan conill"
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{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "konijn"
},
"expansion": "Dutch konijn"
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{
"name": "cog",
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"2": "Kaninchen"
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"expansion": "German Kaninchen"
},
{
"name": "cog",
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"1": "es",
"2": "conejo"
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"expansion": "Spanish conejo"
},
{
"name": "cog",
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"2": "coelho"
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[
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]
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"references": [],
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"lexical": [
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"A rabbit, especially the European rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus (formerly known as Lepus cuniculus).",
"Rabbit fur.",
"Locally for other rabbit-like or hyrax-like animals, such as the Cape hyrax (das, dassie) or the pika (Ochotona princeps, formerly Lagomys princeps).",
"Used in the Old Testament as a translation of Hebrew שָׁפָן (shafán), thought to be the rock hyrax (Procavia capensis, syn. Hyrax syriacus)."
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