Etymology From Middle English pecok, pekok, pocok, pacok, first component from Old English pēa, pāwa (“peacock, peafowl”), ultimately from Latin pāvō; equivalent to pea + cock. Compare Old Norse páfugl (“peacock”, literally “peafowl”), and English peahen, peachick, etc.
1
Usually A male peafowl, especially Pavo cristatus, notable for its brilliant iridescently ocellated tail.
The ſpring diſplaying her elegant taſte, the proud walk of the gold-feathered pheaſant, the light tread of the ſmall-hoofed hind, and the dancing of the ſtar-trained peacock, infuſed joy into the ſoul of the ſpectator of the aſtoniſhing works of the Creator.1769, Firishta, translated by Alexander Dow, Tales translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi, volume I, Dublin: P. and W. Wilson et al., page v:
2
Usually A peafowl (of the genus Pavo or Afropavo), either male or female.
3
Usually The meat of this bird.
When a reader recently inquired if people really eat peacock, I stated that I’d never tasted the bird, roasted or otherwise, and as far as I knew, it is rarely cooked anywhere in the world.1979 April 23, Craig Claiborne, “De Gustibus”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:
Nor do many people today long to eat peacock, which was both a privilege and an ordeal reserved for royalty.1990 December 20, Charles Perry, “The Birds: Fowl Play…”, in Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles Times Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 05 Apr 2026:
1 more example
Nero, infamous emperor of Rome, built a rotating dining room in which guests could eat peacock while flower petals fluttered down from special panels in the ivory ceiling.2017 September 27, Sam Anderson, “New Sentences: From ‘The New Rules of Coffee’”, in The New York Times Magazine, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 Sep 2018:
4
Usually A pompous or vainglorious person [from the 14th c.].
5
Biology, Entomology, Natural sciencesUsually Any of various Asian species of papilionid butterflies of the genus Papilio.
The large and handsome spectre-butterfly, Hestia durvillei; the pale-winged peacock butterfly, Drusilla catops; and the most brilliant and wonderful of the clear-winged moths, Cocytia durvillei, were especially interesting, as well, as several little "blues," equalling in brilliancy and beauty anything the butterfly world can produce.1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume II, London: Macmillan and Co., page 199:
Etymology From Middle English pecok, pekok, pocok, pacok, first component from Old English pēa, pāwa (“peacock, peafowl”), ultimately from Latin pāvō; equivalent to pea + cock. Compare Old Norse páfugl (“peacock”, literally “peafowl”), and English peahen, peachick, etc.
1
To strut about proudly or haughtily.
A routine border-check in upstate New York had turned into a back-room interrogation, and I was worried, because the three friends I was traveling with didn’t respond to authority well. I could almost hear the wry grins cracking their faces as the officers peacocked. “Is U.S. Customs a joke to you?” one officer asked. My friend Alex said, “No law against smiling, sir.”2014 May 30, Will Butler, “The Mark of Cane”, in The New York Times Magazine:
2
To engage in peacocking, ostentatious dress or behaviour to impress women.