Pl. conies (coneys). Forms: α. 2 cunin, 3 konyng, 4–5 conyng(e, 5 conninge, -ynge, konyne, 5–6 cunning, cunyng, -ing; β. 2 cunig, 4 conig, 5 connyg; γ. 6–7 conie, conye, connie, -ye, conny, conney, cunnie, cunney, 6–8 cunny, 4– cony, 6– coney. [The current form represents OF. conil, connil, cogn. w. Pr. conil, Sp. conejo, Pg. coelho, It. coneglio:—L. cunīcul-us rabbit (also burrow, underground passage, military mine), according to ancient authors a word of Spanish origin. The OF. pl. (with l suppressed) coniz, later conis, gave an Eng. pl. conys, conies, and this a singular cony, conie. The ME. cunin, konyne, conyng was a. OF. conin, connin, Anglo-Fr. coning, a parallel form to conil, which gave also MDu. conijn, Du. konijn, and, with a for o, LG. kanîn, whence mod.G. dim. kaninchen. In Eng. the form cunyng, cunning came down to the 16th c.; but from the 12th c. onward it varied also with cunig, conig, connyg. Common spellings from 16th to 18th c. were cunnie, cunney, cunny, and the word regularly rimed with honey, money, as indicated also by the spelling coney; but during the 19th c. the pronunciation with long ō has gradually crept in.
This pronunciation is largely due to the obsolescence of the word in general use, while it occurred in the Bible, and esp. in the Psalms, as the name of a foreign animal (sense 3); the oral tradition being broken, readers guessed at the word from the spelling. It is possible, however, that the desire to avoid certain vulgar associations with the word in the cunny form, may have contributed to the preference for a different pronunciation in reading the Scriptures. Walker knew only the cunny pronunciation; Smart (1836), says ‘it is familiarly pronounced cunny,’ but cōny is proper for solemn reading.’ The obsolescence of the word is also a cause of the unfixed spelling; the Bible of 1611 has conie, cony, conies, modern editions coney, conies (cf. money, monies), an irregularity retained in the Revision of 1885.
The rabbit is evidently of late introduction into Britain and Northern Europe: it has no native name in Celtic or Teutonic, and there is no mention of it in England before the Norman period; in the quotations the fur, perhaps imported, appears before the animal. The Welsh cwning, cwningen, is from ME.; the Irish coinnín, and Gaelic coinean, coinein from ME. or AFr.]
1. A rabbit: formerly the proper and ordinary name, but now superseded in general use by rabbit, which was originally a name for the young only. b. Still retained in the Statutes, and in more or less familiar use with game-keepers, poachers, game-dealers, and cooks: in market reports, now usually meaning a wild rabbit. c. It is also the name in Heraldry. d. dial. In some districts applied to a young rabbit, but elsewhere more properly to an old one.
α, β. [1292. Britton, I. xxii. § 1. De veneysoun et de pessoun et des coniys [v.r. conys, coninz, conyns].]
c. 1302. in Pol. Songs (Camden), 191. We shule flo the Conyng, ant make roste is loyne.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 182. Y-charged wiþ conyng & hares.
1352. Minot, Poems, viii. 75. Haue we nowþer conig ne cat.
a. 1400[?]. Morte Arth., 197. Connygez in cretoyne colourede fulle faire.
c. 1400. Rom. Rose, 7046. With conynges, or with fyne vitaille [Fr. connis lardés en paste]s.
c. 1475. Rauf Coilȝear, 209. Or Capounis and Cunningis they had plentie.
1587. Sc. Acts Jas. VI., § 59. The slayers and schutters of Hart, Hinde, Da, Rae, Haires, Cunninges, & vthers beasts.
1597. Montgomerie, Cherrie & Slae, 18. I saw the cunning and the cat, Quhais downis with the dew was wat.
γ. 1292. [see α, β].
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. Wace (Rolls), 15750. Ffond þey neuere hert ne hynde … Ne hare, cony [v.r. conyng], ffowen, no ro.
c. 1381. Chaucer, Parl. Foules, 193. The litel conyes to her pley gunne hye.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XVIII. i. (1495), 742. Conees and hares and other suche.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 421. Rabet, yonge conye, cunicellus.
1575. Turberv., Venerie, lxiii. 178. The Conie beareth her Rabettes xxx dayes.
1611. Cotgr., Counilleau, a young Rabbet, little young Connie.
1655. Moufet & Bennet, Health’s Improv. (1746), 157. The Romans, who fattened young Hares in Clappers, as we do Cunnies.
1669. Worlidge, Syst. Agric. (1681), 173. Besides the wilde, which are very profitable in Warrens, tame Coneys may be kept … either in Hutches, or in Pits.
1779–81. Johnson, L. P., Drake, Wks. IV. 432. Holes like those of coneys.
1848. Lytton, Harold, XII. i. You might see … the hares and conies stealing forth to sport or to feed.
1885. R. Buchanan, Annan Water, viii. Conies, like elfin things, gambolled in the grass before her.
b. c. 1460. J. Russell, Bk. Nurture, 447. Þe cony, ley hym on þe bak in þe disch, if he haue grece.
1466. Mann. & Househ. Exp., 435. Item, for a shulder of motone, a brest, and a cony, viij.d.
1598. Stow, Surv., xxx. (1603), 265. A signe of three Conies hanging ouer a Poulters stall.
1785. South Cave Inclos. Act, 33. No person shall turn out or stock with conies or rabbits any part of the lands.
1789. Bath Jrnl., 22 June. Mr. Welbore Ellis brought in a Bill for the better preservation of Conies.
a. 1839. Praed, Poems (1864), I. 133. And filled her kitchen every day With leverets and conies.
1867. Wigan Observer, 23 Feb. On Monday, at Southport … two young men … were charged with trespassing in search of coneys.
1883. Standard, 28 July, 6/7. Leverets 2/6d. to 3/6d., conies 8d. to 10d.
[1890. Salesman in Oxford Market. ‘Wild rabbits we call conies.’]
c. 1610. Guillim, Heraldry, 148. He beareth Argent, three Conies, Sable.
1641. Yorke, Union Hon., Suppl. 18. 3 Conies currant argent.
1882. Cussans, Heraldry, 89. A Hare or Rabbit (heraldically termed Coney).
d. 1688. R. Holme, Armoury, II. vii. 132. A conie, 1 a Rabett, and after an old Cony.
a. 1700. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, Old-Coney, after the first Year.
1876. Mid-Yorksh. Gloss., Coney, usually applied to a young rabbit.
e. (without pl.) The flesh of the rabbit.
1538. Bale, Thre Lawes, 487. They wyll durty puddynges eate, For wante of befe and conye [rhyme-wds. monye, honye, sunny].
1586. Cogan, Haven Health, cxxxv. (1636), 136. Conie … so plentifull a meate in this land.
2. The skin or fur of the rabbit. (The earliest recorded use in Eng.) Obs. or dial.
a. 1200. Moral Ode, 361. Ne scal þer beo fou ne grei ne cunig [v.r. cunin, konyng] ne ermine.
1413. Will of Morys (Somerset Ho.). j pylche de conynge.
1514. Fitzherb., Just. Peas (1538), 122. None of the clergye … weare any maner furrs, other than the blacke cony, bogy, gray cony, [etc.].
c. 1524. Churchw. Acc. St. Mary Hill, London (Nichols, 1797), 124. A rosset old gowne with old blak conney.
a. 1625. Fletcher, Noble Gent., V. i. A quiver of your grace’s linde with Cunney.
c. 1640. J. Smyth, Lives Berkeleys (1883), I. 305. All of them of cloth, and furred with Coney.
1877. Peacock, N. W. Linc. Gloss., Conies, rabbit-skins.
3. In O.T. used to translate Hebrew shāphān, a small pachyderm (Hyrax Syriacus), living in caves and clefts of the rocks in Palestine.
14[?]. Wyclif, Lev. xi. 5 (MS. N. c. 1420). A cirogrille, ether a conyng [v.r. or a cony].
1535. Coverdale, Ps. ciii. [civ.] 18. The hilles are a refuge for the wylde goates, and so are the stony rockes for ye conyes.
1568. Bible (Bishops’), Prov. xxx. 26. The conies are but a feeble folke, yel make their boroughes among the rocks. Ibid. (1611), Deut. xiv. 7. The camel, and the hare, and the cony [mod. edd. coney].
1863. Kingsley, Water-bab., ii. (1886), 81. The beast … is first cousin to the little hairy coney of Scripture.
1873. Dawson, Earth & Man, 248. The Modern Damans or Conies.
1885. Bible (Revised), Lev. xi. 7. The Coney [marg. The Hyrax Syriacus or rock-badger.]
4. Applied also locally to the Cape Hyrax or Das (Hyrax Capensis), and to the Pika or Calling Hare (Lagomys princeps) of the Rocky Mountains; also with qualifications to other small quadrupeds.
1555. Eden, Decades, 134. In the citie of Dominica … connies (which they caule Vtias beynge no bygger then myse). Ibid., 135. This messenger deuoured three of the counnies.
1710. Brit. Apollo, III. No. 70. 2/1. A Guinea Pig … in Johnston’s Natural History goes by the Name of a Spanish Coney.
1796. Stedman, Surinam, II. xxii. 153. The long-nosed Cavy … or Indian Coney. In Surinam … there is still another species of the Agouti, called the Indian Rat-Coney, on account of its having a long tail.
1834. Pringle, Afr. Sk., vi. 204. Rocky ravines inhabited by … the das or coney.
1865. Livingstone, Zambesi, vii. 162. Afterwards brought us … a roasted coney.
1891. Daily News, 9 Nov., 5/5. Among the novelties lately added to the collection of living animals in the Regent’s Park is a coney or hyrax belonging to a different species.
† 5. A term of endearment for a woman. Obs.
a. 1528. Skelton, El. Rummyng, 225. He calleth me his whytyng, His nobbes and his conny.
a. 1553. Udall, Royster D. (Arb.), 27. Ah sweete lambe and coney.
1562. J. Heywood, Prov. & Epigr. (1867), 181. Iane thou sellest sweete conies in this pultry shoppe: But none so sweete as thy selfe, sweete conye moppe.
1611. Beaum. & Fl., Knt. Burn. Pestle, Induct. Wife … Husband, Husband. Cit. What sayst thou Conie?
b. Also indecently.
1591. Troub. Raigne K. John (1611), 52. Now for your ransome my cloyster-bred conney.
1622. Massinger, Virg. Mart., II. i. A pox on your Christian cockatrices! They cry, like poulterers’ wives, ‘No money, no coney.’
1631. Dekker, Match me in Lond., I. Wks. 1873, IV. 137. The Conyes vse to feed most i’th night Sir, yet I cannot see my young mistris in our Warren.
1719. D’Urfey, Pills, VI. 198. The Cunny she shows play, and in the best of her way.
† 6. A dupe, a gull; the victim of the ‘cony-catcher.’ Obs.
1592. Greene, Art Conny-catch., 13. In Coni-catching law He that is coosned [is called] the Connie. Ibid. (1592), Def. Conny-Catch. (1859), 18. An old Cony catcher … that could lurtch a poor Conny of so many thousands at one time.
a. 1700. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, Cony, a silly Fellow.
1730–6. Bailey (folio), s.v. Cony, Tom-Cony (with the Vulgar), a very silly fellow.
7. a. Some kind of shell-fish; ? a cone. b. A name for the Nigger-fish (Epinephelus punctatus) of the West Indies.
1782. P. H. Bruce, Mem., XII. 424. Their shell-fish are conques, perriwinkles, coneys, [etc.].
8. attrib. and Comb., as cony-coop, -fur, -kind, -skin, -stealer, -white; † cony-cheaping, a rabbit-market; † cony-clapper (see CLAPPER sb.2); † cony-close, a cony-warren; † cony-dog (slang), a person who assists in ‘cony-catching’; † cony-gat, a rabbit burrow; † cony-ground, a cony-warren; † cony-man, ? a rabbit-catcher; † cony-pear (see quot.); † cony-vaulted a., having a winding cavity, like a cony-burrow; † cony-yard = CONY-GARTH.
1421. in Liber Cust. (Rolls), 344. De Paternosterlane usque *Conichepynge [in the neighborhood of St. Paul’s].
1530. Palsgr., 208/1. Cony hole or *clapar, taisniere.
1572. T. Wilson, Usury. The poore gentleman is caught in the cony clapper.
a. 1449. Paston Lett., No. 58, I. 71. Yt happyd hym … in the *Konyneclosse.
a. 1643. W. Cartwright, Lady Errant, V. ii. We must carry … Bird cages … And *Cony-coopes.
a. 1700. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, Tumbler … a *Coney Dog.
1708. J. Chamberlayne, St. Gt. Brit., I. I. iv. (1743), 32. England produceth … wax, tallow, *coney-furs, [etc.].
1591. Peele, Sp. Q. Eliz., Gardener’s Sp. This weasel-monger, who is no better than a cat in a house, or a ferret in a *cony-gat.
1617. Minsheu, Duct., Conie-catcher … taken from those that vse to robbe Warrens and *Conie grounds.
1878. Browning, Poets Croisic, 42. Classed Once more among the *cony-kind.
1590. Parish Reg. H. Trin., Hall. John Blagbrowgh, *Conneyman.
1616. Surfl. & Markh., Country Farme, 417. Tender or delicate pear, such as the little *Conie peare.
1664. Pepys, Diary (1879), III. 61. I find that a *coney skin in my breeches preserves me perfectly from galling.
1677. Plot, Oxfordsh., 209. The very *Cony-stealers that were abroad that night … for hast … left their Ferret in the Cony-boroughs behind them.
1575. Banister, Chyrurg., III. (1585), 493. Deepe *cunniuaulted, or cavernous ulcers … make many turnings and fouldinges, out of sight.
1599. Massinger, etc., Old Law, III. ii. Oh! this same *coney-white takes an excellent black.
1647. Haward, Crown Rev., 41. For keeping the *Cony-Yard, Fee: 18l. 5s. 0d.
