Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

cony

/ˈkoʊni/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: 1.81 in modern English

Syllables: cony
IPA: /ˈkoʊni/

9

Scrabble Score

4

Letters

1

Syllables

4

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A rabbit, especially the European rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus (formerly known as Lepus cuniculus).

noun

British usage

noun

Locally for other rabbit-like or hyrax-like animals, such as the Cape hyrax (das, dassie) or the pika (Ochotona princeps, formerly Lagomys princeps).

noun

Locally for other rabbit-like or hyrax-like animals, such as the Cape hyrax (das, dassie) or the pika (Ochotona princeps, formerly Lagomys princeps).

noun

A simpleton; one who may be taken in by a cony-catcher.

Obsolete

noun

An edible West Indian fish, a grouper given in different sources as: Epinephelus apua, the hind of Bermuda; nigger-fish, Epinephelus punctatus; Cephalopholis fulva.

noun

Any of certain members of family Epinephelidae of Atlantic groupers, such as mutton hamlets, graysby, Cuban coneys, and rooster hinds.

noun

British usage

Example Sentences

"I were skynnes of conny, / That causeth I loke so donny."
"ORLANDO. Are you native of this place? / ROSALIND. As the cony that you see / dwell where she is kindled."
"It is a most simple animal; whence are derived our usual phrases of cony and cony catcher."

Etymology

From Middle English cony, back formation from conies (plural), from Anglo-Norman conis, the plural of connil (“rabbit”), from Latin cunīculus, of unknown origin. Cognate to Catalan conill, Dutch konijn, German Kaninchen, Spanish conejo, and Portuguese coelho. The original pronunciation was /ˈkʌni/ (for the spelling, compare honey and money), but the similarity to cunt (and particularly homophony with cunny) led through taboo avoidance both to the word's displacement in the main by rabbit and bunny and to the spelling-pronunciation /ˈkəʊni/ becoming standard.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: coni, conis, cunīculus

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈkoʊni/
British English: /ˈkəʊni/

Usage

British usage
Obsolete

Inflected Forms

conies (plural) coney (alternative) cunny (alternative) connie (alternative)

Phrases

butter the cony cony wool Coney Island

Frequently Paired Words

Coney Island CoNY

Synonyms

bunny hare coney coney-fish rabbit pika mouse hare rock rabbit

Rhymes With

tony sony pony toni phony tyrone stony bologna bony macaroni joni oni

Questions

How do you pronounce cony?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈkoʊni/.
What does cony mean?: A rabbit, especially the European rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus (formerly known as Lepus cuniculus).
Where does cony come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce cony

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “cony”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈkoʊni/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “cony”.
Repeat and practice — Say “cony” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.