cootie
English edit
Etymology edit
Probably from Malay kutu (“flea, louse”) (and/or Tagalog/Maori). First attested in English in 1917 as British army slang during World War I.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
cootie (plural cooties)
- (dated, British Army military slang) A louse (Pediculus humanus).
- (Canada, US, colloquial) A louse (Pediculus humanus).
- 1921, L. M. Montgomery, Rilla of Ingleside:
- "Tell Rilla I'm glad her war-baby is turning out so well, and tell Susan that I'm fighting a good fight against both Huns and cooties."
"Mrs. Dr. dear," whispered Susan solemnly, "what are cooties?"
Mrs. Blythe whispered back and then said in reply to Susan's horrified ejaculations, "It's always like that in the trenches, Susan."
Susan shook her head and went away in grim silence to re-open a parcel she had sewed up for Jem and slip in a fine tooth comb.
- (Canada, US, Australia, colloquial, childish, usually in the plural) Any germ or contaminant, real or imagined, especially from the opposite gender (for pre-pubescent children).
- I’m not drinking from his glass until I wash the cooties off it.
- (rare) A nest-building female American coot (counterpart to cooter).
- (rare, slang) A sideswiper, a type of telegraph key.
Hyponyms edit
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
louse — see louse
childish: germ or contaminant
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See also edit
Scots edit
Etymology 1 edit
Diminutive of cood possibly influenced by kittie (“a large washing-chamber”).
Noun edit
cootie (plural cooties)
- (obsolete) A wooden dish or tub for kitchen use.
References edit
- “cood” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.
Etymology 2 edit
Possibly from coot (“ankle”).
Adjective edit
cootie
- Having feathers on the legs.
- a cootie hen
- 1876, Robert Burns, Tam Samson's Elegy:
- Ye cootie moorcocks
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
References edit
- “cootie” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.