Macock

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A regional dialect term for a male turkey, the bird more commonly called a tom or gobbler
2. An informal country word referring to an adult male turkey, especially one kept on a farm
3. Used in some rural English dialects to name the male of the domestic turkey, a bird also called a gobbler

Etymology: The word "macock" is a small fruit-and-squash term borrowed from the languages of the Algonquian-speaking peoples of Virginia. Its source is "macócqwer" (a plural form) in Carolina Algonquian, or "mahcawq", meaning "small pumpkin", in Powhatan. Some sources suggest the English form may combine elements of both. English speakers borrowed the word to name a type of squash or gourd that the Indigenous peoples of the region cultivated. The English form kept the sense of a small pumpkin, and the word passed into English through contact with those communities during the colonial period.