cockney
cockney Lexical Profile
cockney Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
British Relating to or characteristic of Cockneys, their working-class East London culture, or their distinctive dialect and accent.
"The actor spent months with a dialect coach to master a convincing Cockney accent for the stage play."
• noun
British A native of East London, traditionally defined as someone born within hearing distance of the Bow Bells (the bells of St Mary-le-Bow church).
"His grandfather was a proud Cockney who lived in the East End of London his entire life."
British The traditional working-class dialect and accent of English spoken by natives of East London, notable for its rhyming slang and distinctive vowel shifts.
"Many playful expressions from Cockney rhyming slang have entered everyday British English."
• Rhymes for cockney
Word Origin & Etymology
From Middle English 'cokeney', literally meaning 'cock's egg' (a small or misshapen egg). By the 16th century, rural English speakers applied the term disparagingly to pampered city dwellers, eventually narrowing it specifically to natives of London's East End.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.