cobswan

noun

cobswan

noun

/ˈkɒbswɒn/

Etymology From cob (“one who is eminent or great”) + swan.

1

Obsolete, Rare A large male swan.

  • I'am not taken / With a Cob-Swan, or a high-mounting Bull / As fooliſh Leda and Europa were.1611, Ben[jamin] Jonson, Catiline His Conspiracy, London: […] [William Stansby?] for Walter Burre, →OCLC, Act II:
  • [T]here's plenty hint / Your pinions have received of late a shock— / Out-soar them, cobswan of the silver flock!1840 March, Robert Browning, “Book the Second”, in Sordello, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 83:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.