chicken

chicken
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 possibly also the root of cock (n.1)) + dim. suffixes. Adjective sense of "cowardly" is at least as old as 14c. (Cf. hen-herte “a chicken-hearted person,” mid-15c.); the verb meaning "to back down or fail through cowardice" is from 1943, U.S. slang; as a game of danger to test courage, it is first recorded 1953. Chicken feed "paltry sum of money" is from 1904. Chicken lobster "young lobster," is from c.1960s, Amer.Eng., apparently from chicken in its sense of "young."

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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