/ ˈkʌkəʊld; NAmE -oʊld/ noun , verb
■ noun
( old use , disapproving ) a man whose wife has sex with another man
■ verb [ vn ] ( old use )
1.
( of a man ) to make another man a cuckold by having sex with his wife
2.
( of a woman ) to make her husband a cuckold by having sex with another man
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WORD ORIGIN
late Old English , from Old French cucuault , from cucu cuckoo (from the cuckoo's habit of laying its egg in another bird's nest). The equivalent words in French and other languages applied to both the bird and the adulterer; cuckold has never been applied to the bird in English.