In various books that I have read, mostly about English society, I come across the word/phrase "cuckhold" as in 'he was cuckholded". Anyone know the origin of this word/phrase?
The etymology is as follows:
Cuckold (n): mid-13c., kukewald, from Old French cucuault, from cocu (see cuckoo) + pejorative suffix -ault, of Germanic origin. So called from the female bird's alleged habit of changing mates, or her authentic habit of leaving eggs in another bird's nest.
In Modern French the identity is more obvious: Coucou for the bird and cocu for the betrayed husband. German Hahnrei (13c.), from Low German, is of obscure origin. The second element seems to be connected to words for "ardent," and suggests perhaps "sexually aggressive hen," with transferal to humans, but Kluge suggests rather a connection to words for "capon" and "castrated." Related: Cuckoldry.
From etymonline.
More generally, it's interesting to note that here we have the rare sexual insult against a masculine figure, the implication being that a cuckolded man was incapable of sexually satisfying his wife and so forcing her further afield.
Another common iteration of the same idea is the idea of a person being "horned". This pops up in various places from Shakespeare to the French and Italian rude hand gesture that looks somewhat like "rock out" (palm down, index and pinky fingers extended) which means "I've slept with your wife", ie. "you have horns."
For this, the OED gives, under horn, n:
- Cuckolds were fancifully said to wear horns on the brow. to give horns to , to graft, plant horns on : to cuckold. The origin of this, which appears in so many European languages, and, seemingly, even in late Greek in phrase κέρατα ποιεῖν τινί (Artemidorus, Oneirocritica II. 12) is referred by Dunger ( Germania XXIX. 59) to the practice formerly prevalent of planting or engrafting the spurs of a castrated cock on the root of the excised comb, where they grew and became horns, sometimes of several inches long. He shows that German hahnreh or hahnrei ‘cuckold’, originally meant ‘capon’.
- to make horns at [French faire les cornes à, Italian far le corna a] : to hold the fist with two fingers extended like a pair of horns, as an insulting gesture.