Cojones

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /kəˈhoʊˌneɪs/

Definitions

1. A term for strong courage or bravery in difficult situations ; a word describing boldness or audacity often in risky actions
2. Used to express the quality of having guts or great bravery ; signifies a daring and fearless attitude
3. Refers to the mental strength to face challenges bravely ; denotes an attitude of boldness and willingness to take risks

Etymology: The Spanish "cojones" means "testicles," and English borrowed it in its vulgar sense, so the word's core meaning has never changed: it is still a slang term for testicles, with "great personal courage" as a figurative extension. The bold, bluntly anatomical image is what makes it stand out among English borrowings from Spanish. The Spanish word itself descends from the Latin "coleus," meaning "bag" or "scrotum," and it is a doublet of the English words "cullion" and "culeus." Doublets are pairs of words that come from the same source by different routes, and "cullion," an older English insult meaning a base or contemptible person, shows the same root in a different career. "Culeus" is the Latin form preserved in that same family. Because the word is borrowed with its anatomy intact, the courage sense is a metaphor: having the testicles to do something is equated with having nerve. English speakers adopted it mainly in the twentieth century, when it became a common, if coarse, way to describe boldness.

Synonyms: guts, courage

Antonyms: cowardice