Wodecocke

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic spelling of the woodcock, a plump woodland game bird with a long bill and camouflaged brown plumage
2. A medieval form of the name for a stocky forest bird of the snipe family that has a long beak and mottled feathers
3. An old English term for a secretive, ground-dwelling woodland bird prized as game, distinguished by its long bill and eyes set high on its head

Etymology: "Wodecocke" is a Middle English spelling of the modern "woodcock," the plump, camouflaged game bird of damp woodland. The word is a compound of "wood" and "cock," and it was already in use in Old English in forms like "wudecoc," so the bird's name is far older than the spelling shown here. The second half is the surprise. In "woodcock," "cock" almost certainly does not mean the rooster. Its exact origin is uncertain, and it may be an old name element for a bird rather than a reference to a male. Because the word was in use centuries before the rooster sense became dominant in everyday speech, a reader who assumes a barnyard connection has it backwards.