cod

Etymology 1

From Middle English cod, codde, from Old English cod, codd (“bag, pouch”), from Proto-Germanic *kuddô, from Proto-Indo-European *gewt- (“pouch, sack”), from *gew- (“to bend, bow, arch, vault, curve”). Cognate with Scots cod, codd, coad, kod (“pillow, cushion”), Low German Koden, Kon (“belly, paunch”), Middle Dutch codde (“scrotum”), Danish kodde (“testicle”), Swedish kudde (“cushion”), Faroese koddi (“pillow”), Icelandic koddi (“pillow”).

noun

1. (obsolete) A small bag or pouch.
   There is a Cod, or Bag, that groweth commonly in the Fields; 1626, Francis Bacon, Sylua syluarum: or A naturall historie In ten centuries
   The Bunt is to a Sail,[The Bunt of a Sail.] as the Cod to a Net, being the very Pouch, or Bag of the Sail; and therefore all Sails have this Bunt, 1685, Nathaniel Boteler, Six dialogues about sea-services between an high-admiral and a captain at sea
   Perspective view of the gear, showing important parts: b, beam; bl. belly; br, brail; bt, bating; c cod end, or bag; 1932, The Philippine Journal of Science - Volume 48, page 410
2. (UK, obsolete) A husk or integument; a pod.
   and I remember the wooing of a peascod instead of her, from whom I tooke two cods, and giuing her them againe, said with weeping teares, weare these for my sake: wee that are true Louers, runne into strange capers; but as all is mortall in nature, so is all nature in loue, mortall in folly. 1603, William Shakespeare, As You Like It
   1. Colutæa vesicaria vulgaris sylvestris. Ordinary Bastard Sene with bladders. This greater Bastard Sene groweth in time to be a tree of a reasonable greatnesse, the stem or trunck being of the bignesse of a mans arme or greater, covered with a blackish greene ragged barke, the wood whereof is harder then of an Elder, but with a pith in the middle of the branches which are divided many wayes, having divers winged leaves composed of many small round pointed or rather flat pointed leaves, set at severall distances, and somewhat like unto Licoris, or the Hatchet fitch, among which come forth yellow flowers like unto Broome flowers and as large; after which come thinne swelling cods, like unto thinne transparent bladders; wherein are conteined blacke seede set upon a middle ribbe within the bladders, which being alittle crushed betweene the fingers, will give a cracke like a bladder full of winde: the roote groweth great and wooddy, branching forth divers wayes. 1640, John Parkinson, Theatrum Botanicum, London: Thomas Cotes, page 226
3. The cocoon of a silkworm.
   As soon as it is arrived at the size and strength necessary for the beginning its cod, it makes its web; this is his first day's employment; on the second he forms his cod, and covers himself almost over with silk; the third day he is quite hid; and the following days employs himself in thickening and strengthening his cod; always working from one single end, which he never breaks himself; and which is so fine, and so long, that those who have nicely examin'd it affirm, that each cod contains silk enough to reach the length of six English miles. 1735, John Barrow, Dictionarium polygraphicum
   In seven days, the cods being finished, they are gathered and laid inheaps till they have time to wind off the silk: But they first set apart the cods designed for propagation, upon a hurdle in a cool airy place. 1750 December, “Account of the Manner of breeding Silk-worms, and procuring Silk”, in The London Magazine, Or, Gentleman's Monthly Intelligencer
   The whole moth kind, as well as the silkworm, immediately before their transformation into the chrysalis state, cover their bodies with a cod or clew of silk , though the nature of the silk , and their mode of spinning, are very different. 1846, William Smellie, The Philosophy of Natural History, page 163
4. (now rare) The scrotum (also in plural).
   that which we call castoreum […] are not the same to be termed testicles or stones; for these cods or follicles are found in both sexes, though somewhat more protuberant in the male. 1646, Sir Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, III.4
   Then let the cutter take and hold the tip of his cod in his left hand, and with a sharp knife cut the top thereof an inch long clean away. 1662, Leonard Mascall, The Government of Cattel. Divided Into Three Books, page 241
   I went on one knee and thrust up and into his cod. 1953, Francis Leary, The Swan and the Rose, page 22
   Starmara made a muffled sound that might have been a bleat of alarm or might have merely been an expression of disgust, but revealed to her from-the-floor gaze was a leather cod of weary age and condition, below a long, continuous coil of coarse rope that had been wound round and round the merchant's hips, adding noticeably to his impressive girth—which shrank rapidly as the merchant tugged, hauled on the rope, then began a ponderous imitation of a dancing-lass undulating on a pedestal at a revel, shedding coils around his feet with a clumsiness that made Surth sigh and Starmara suddenly want to laugh. 2011, Ed Greenwood, Elminster's Daughter
5. (obsolete or UK dialectal, Scotland) A pillow or cushion.
   Provost Maccalzean, with the silver keys in his hand, and the eldest bailie with the crimson-velvet cod, whereon they were to be delivered to her Majesty, following as fast as any member of a city corporation could be reasonably be expected to do. 1823, John Galt, Ringan Gilhaize; or, The Covenanters, page 295
   Item , ane long velvet cod or cusheon ; 1889, Sir William Fraser, Memorials of the Earls of Haddington - Volume 2, page 299
   Elizabeth Pitt, wife of Thomas Pitt of Haldon, clothier, Elizabeth Clerke of the same, spinster, and Jane Topliffe, wife of James Topliffe of the same, laborer, for stealing there on 1ˢᵗ Nov., 1640, a petticoat (parvacidam) value 4s., two children's coats value 2s., a feather bed cod value 2s., the property of Richard Bradley. 1915 [a.1642], Yorkshire Archæological Society, edited by John Lister, West Riding Sessions Records, fol. 148

Etymology 2

From Middle English cod, codde, of uncertain origin: * Oldest English form cotfich as a surname in the 13th century; for more see cot (“chamber, cottage”). * Same as Etymology 1, above; a bag or pouch, related to its bloated shape. * From Latin gadus, from Ancient Greek γάδος (gádos, “fish”) with a possible pre-Greek or Semitic origin; for more see Atargatis, Cetus, and κῆτος (kêtos).

noun

1. The Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua.
2. The sea fish of the genus Gadus generally, as inclusive of the Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) and Greenland cod (Gadus ogac or Gadus macrocephalus ogac).
3. The sea fish of the family Gadidae which are sold as "cod", as haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) and whiting (usually Merlangius merlangus).
4. (informal, usually with qualifiers) Other not closely related fish which are similarly important to regional fisheries, as the hapuku and cultus cod.
5. (informal, usually with qualifiers) Other not closely related fish which resemble the Atlantic cod, as the rock cod (Lotella rhacina) and blue cod (Parapercis colias).
6. The meat of any of the above fish

Etymology 3

Origin unknown. Attested in reference to a person (though not always a stupid or foolish person) from the end of the 17th century. The Oxford English Dictionary (1891) notes that a suggested link to codger is unlikely, as cod appears much earlier.

noun

1. A joke or an imitation.
   I assume it all could just be a cod.
2. A stupid or foolish person.
   He's making a right cod of himself.

adj

1. (usually attributive, in compounds) Having the character of imitation; jocular.
   cod psychology
   “Illegitimi non carborundum” is a well-known example of cod Latin.
   Dalton categorises Muse's latest composition as “cod-classical bombast”.
   […] the director's vision has devolved from cod Orwell to riffing off bad girl art comic books and generally feeble posing. 2006 July, Kim Newman, “Ultraviolet”, in Sight and Sound, volume 16, page 78
   READERS of The Economist may not necessarily be familiar with the “World of Warcraft”. For those who are not, it is a cod-medieval online game in which goblins and trolls, warriors and wizards, and so on act out the fantasies of some 9m players who spend the rest of their lives in the alternative world of paper and pay-packets. 23 August 2007, “Viral and virtual: A plague in a computer game may have lessons for the real world”, in The Economist
   Hynkel's anti-Semitic rants (consisting of cod-German punctuated by shouts of "Juden") are terrifying, but there is no conviction behind them, just a desperate need to distract the Tomainians from his economic failures. February 5 2021, Nicholas Barber, “The Great Dictator: The film that dared to laugh at Hitler”, in BBC
2. (Polari) Bad.
   Sandy: Right, right, well I'll just open the wardrobe. Oh, here, look—his wardrobe. Ha! Julian: Ha! Oh what a naff lot! Sandy: It is a bit cod isn't it. 1968-03-17, Kenneth Horne, Bona Rags (Round the Horne), season 4, spoken by Julian and Sandy (Hugh Paddick and Kenneth Williams)
   Will you take a varder at the cartz on the feely-omi in the naf strides: the one with the bona blue ogles polarying the omi-palone with a vogue on and a cod sheitel. 1997, James Gardiner, Who's a Pretty Boy Then?, page 137
   Hahahahaha! @AnnaJaneCasey Vada the homi ajax, with the naff riah and the cod lally drags. Ooooo she's camp... 2016-09-18, Antony Cotton, Twitter

verb

1. (slang, transitive, dialectal) To attempt to deceive or confuse; To joke; To kid.
   "How are you, Mary?" "I thought your friend Mac was codding me that you would come." 1955, J P Donleavy, The Ginger Man, published 1955 (France), page 339