cot-quean

See also: cotquean

English

Etymology

cot +‎ quean; see cot (“cottage”).

Noun

cot-quean (plural cot-queans)

1. (obsolete, derogatory) A man who performs tasks that traditionally belong to a woman; an effeminate man.
   • c. 1591–1595, William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act 4, Scene 4:

     Go, you cot-quean, go. / Get you to bed!

   • 1716 April 30, Joseph Addison, No. 38‎^[1], The Freeholder, quoted in The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, published 1804, page 378, volume 4:

     A stateswoman is as ridiculous a creature as a cot-quean. Each of the sexes should keep within its particular bounds, and content themselves to excel within their respective districts.

2. (obsolete, derogatory) A female cuckold; a cuckquean.
   • 1601, Ben Jonson, Poetaster, Act 4, Scene 4:

     What, shall a husband be afraid of his wife's face? Will she paint it so horribly? We are a king, cotquean, and we will reign in our pleasures, and we will cudgel thee to death if thou find fault with us.

Synonyms

• (man who performs a woman's tasks): betty, cot-betty, henhussy
• (effeminate man): sissy, mollycoddle, janegirl
• (female cuckold): cuckquean, cucquean

Hyponyms

• (man who performs a woman's tasks): househusband