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Origin and history of covey

covey(n.)

mid-14c., "brood or flock of partridges" (also applied to similar birds), from Old French covee "a brood, a hatching" (Modern French couvée), from Gallo-Roman *cubata, literally "hatchling," from past-participle stem of Latin cubare "to sit, incubate, hatch" (see cubicle).

also from mid-14c.

Entries linking to covey

cubicle(n.)

mid-15c., "bedroom, bedchamber," from Latin cubiculum "bedroom," from cubare "to lie down," which is perhaps from a PIE *kub-, with cognates in Middle Welsh kyscu, Middle Cornish koska, Middle Breton cousquet "to sleep," but de Vaan regards the PIE origin of the Latin word as "uncertain." Compare cubit.

Obsolete from 16c. but revived by 1858 for "dormitory sleeping compartment," especially in an English public school. The sense of "any partitioned space" (such as a library carrel or, later, office work station) is attested by 1926. Related: Cubicular.

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    partridge
    "type of four-toed Eurasian bird," c. 1300, partrich (late 12c. as a surname, Ailwardus Pertiz), from Old French pertis, alteration of perdis (perhaps influenced by fem. suffix -tris), from Latin perdicem (nominative perdix) "plover, lapwing," from Greek perdix, the Greek partrid
    grouse
    type of game bird, 1530s, grows (plural, used collectively), of unknown origin, possibly from Latin or Welsh. Originally the moorhen of the British Isles; later the name was extended to similar birds in other places...."complain," 1885 (implied in agent noun grouser), British Arm
    flock
    Old English flocc "a group of persons, company, troop," related to Old Norse flokkr "crowd, troop, band," Middle Low German vlocke "crowd, flock (of sheep);" of unknown origin, not found in other Germanic languages; perhaps related to folc "people," but the metathesis would have
    guilt
    Old English gylt "crime, sin, moral defect, failure of duty," of unknown origin, though some suspect a connection to Old English gieldan "to pay for, debt," but OED editors find this "inadmissible phonologically." The -u- is an unetymological insertion. In law, "That state of a m
    blunt
    c. 1200, blunt, blont, "dull, obtuse" (of persons), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from or related to Old Norse blundra "to shut one's eyes" (see blunder (v.)). Or from Old English blinnan (past participle blon) "to stop, cease, come to an end." Of tools or weapons, "not sharp, wit
    customer
    late 14c., custumer, "customs official, toll-gatherer;" c. 1400, "one who purchases goods or supplies, one who customarily buys from the same tradesman or guild," from Anglo-French custumer, Old French coustumier, from Medieval Latin custumarius "a toll-gatherer, tax-collector,"
    milk
    "opaque white fluid secreted by mammary glands of female mammals, suited to the nourishment of their young," Middle English milk, from Old English meoluc (West Saxon), milc (Anglian), from Proto-Germanic *meluk- "milk" (source also of Old Norse mjolk, Old Frisian melok, Old Saxon
    filibuster
    1580s, flibutor "pirate," especially, in history, "West Indian buccaneer of the 17th century" (mainly French, Dutch, and English adventurers), probably ultimately from Dutch vrijbueter (now vrijbuiter) "freebooter," a word which was used of pirates in the West Indies in Spanish (
    rhinoceros
    "ungainly quadruped having tough, thick skin and usually one or two horns on the snout," once widespread but now limited to Africa and South Asia, c. 1300, rinoceros, "a rhinoceros," also "a horned beast, sometimes regarded as a species of unicorn" [Middle English Compendium], fr
    proportion
    late 14c., proporcioun, "due relation of one part to another," also "size, extent; comparative relation of one thing to another in size, degree, number, etc.," from Old French proporcion "measure, proportion" (13c.) and directly from Latin proportionem (nominative proportio) "com

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