Peacock Definition

pēkŏk

peacocks

noun

peacocks

Any male peafowl, esp., one of a species (Pavo cristatus) with a crest of plumules and long, brightly colored upper tail coverts that can be spread like a fan and have rainbow-colored, eyelike spots.

Webster's New World

Any peafowl.

Webster's New World

A vain, strutting person.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

Synonyms:
bird-of-juno
pavo. associated word: pavonine
muster
pride
ostentation
peacock-butterfly
Inachis io

verb

peacocks

To display vanity in behavior, dress, etc.; strut.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

Other Word Forms of Peacock

Noun

Singular:

peacock

Plural:

peacocks

Origin of Peacock

From Middle English po (“peacock") + coc (see cock (n.)). Po is from Old English pāwa (“peafowl"), from Latin pavo (gen. pavonis), which, with Ancient Greek ταώς (taōs), said to be ultimately from Tamil தோகை (tōkai) (but perhaps is imitative; Latin represented the peacock's sound as paupulo). Used as the type of a vainglorious person from late 14c. Its flesh superstitiously believed to be incorruptible (even St. Augustine credits this). "When he sees his feet, he screams wildly, thinking that they are not in keeping with the rest of his body."

From Wiktionary
Middle English pocock, pecok po peacock (from Old English pawa, pēa peafowl) (from Latin pāvō peacock) Middle English cok cock¹

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition