Chicken

Chicken
This unusual name is of early medieval English origin and has a number of possible interpretations. Firstly, it can be a metonymic occupational name for someone who bred poultry for the table, derived from the Middle English word "Chike", a shortened form of "chike", in old English, pre 7th Century, "cicen", young fowl. In some cases the name may have been used as a nickname derived from the same word and used as a term of endearment, in much the same way as "lamb" and "duck" are still used today. Lastly the modern surname "chick" may be a variant of the name "cheek", derived from the old English "ceace", "cece", jaw-bone, used as a nickname for one with a prominent jaw. Jacob Chick and Elizabeth Fidler were married in London in 1601. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Chike, which was dated 1198, in the "Dorset Pipe Rolls", during the reign of King Richard 1, known as "the Lionheart", 1189 - 1199. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

Surnames reference. 2013.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Chicken 65 — is a spicy, deep fried chicken dish popular in South India, as a bar snack, entree, or quick snack. The flavour of the dish comes from ginger, cayenne pepper, mustard powder and vinegar although the exact recipe can vary. It can be prepared using …   Wikipedia

  • chicken — (n.) O.E. cicen young fowl, which in M.E. came to mean young chicken, then any chicken, from W.Gmc. *kiukinam (Cf. M.Du. kiekijen, Du. kieken, O.N. kjuklingr, Swed. kyckling, Ger. Küken chicken ), from root *keuk (echoic of the bird s sound and… …   Etymology dictionary

  • chicken — [chik′ən] n. [ME chicken < OE cycen < WGmc * kiukina < * kiuk ; like COCK1, of echoic orig.; akin to MLowG kûken (Du kuiken, kieken)] 1. a common gallinaceous farm bird (Gallus domesticus) raised for its edible eggs or flesh; hen or… …   English World dictionary

  • chicken — ► NOUN 1) a domestic fowl kept for its eggs or meat, especially a young one. 2) a coward. 3) informal a game in which the first person to lose their nerve and withdraw from a dangerous situation is the loser. ► ADJECTIVE informal ▪ cowardly. ►… …   English terms dictionary

  • Chicken — bezeichnet einen Ort in Alaska, siehe Chicken (Alaska) eine Implementierung der Programmiersprache Scheme, siehe Chicken (Scheme) Chicken ist der Familienname von Ludwig Chicken (* 1915), Alpinist und Arzt Siehe auch: Schicken …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Chicken — Chick en, n. [AS. cicen, cyceun, dim. of coc cock; akin to LG. kiken, k[ u]ken, D. Kieken, kuiken, G. k[ u]chkein. See {Cock} the animal.] 1. A young bird or fowl, esp. a young barnyard fowl. [1913 Webster] 2. A young person; a child; esp. a… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Chicken (EP) — Chicken EP by Ednaswap Released 1996 Recorded 1995 Genre Hard rock, Post grunge …   Wikipedia

  • Chicken — Chicken, AK U.S. Census Designated Place in Alaska Population (2000): 17 Housing Units (2000): 21 Land area (2000): 115.411025 sq. miles (298.913169 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 115.411025 sq …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

  • Chicken, AK — U.S. Census Designated Place in Alaska Population (2000): 17 Housing Units (2000): 21 Land area (2000): 115.411025 sq. miles (298.913169 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 115.411025 sq. miles… …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

  • chicken — chicken. См. chicken. (Источник: «Англо русский толковый словарь генетических терминов». Арефьев В.А., Лисовенко Л.А., Москва: Изд во ВНИРО, 1995 г.) …   Молекулярная биология и генетика. Толковый словарь.

  • chicken — [n1] person afraid to try something coward, craven, dastard, funk, poltroon, quitter, recreant, scaredy cat*, yellow belly*; concept 423 chicken [n2] farm fowl banty, barnyard fowl, biddy, capon, chick, cock, cock a doodle do*, cockalorum,… …   New thesaurus

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”