judcockn.

Etymology: < a first element of unknown origin (perhaps gid n.², although this is apparently first attested later) + cock n.¹ With the β. forms perhaps compare -ock suffix, which is seen in several other names of birds, e.g. dunnock n., pinnock n.¹, ruddock n.Various possibilities have been suggested for the first element, all posing semantic or formal problems. N.E.D. (1901) suggested that the first element was judge n., the bird being so called on account of the similarity of its black crown to the black cap formerly worn by a judge when passing a death sentence; however, this poses formal problems. In the forms with medial -g- , it is unclear whether that letter represents an affricate or a plosive; if the latter, likely candidates for the first element are lacking. Eng. Dial. Dict. (at Juddock) compared Norwegian gjedde pike (the fish; see ged n.¹), which poses both formal and semantic problems (since the initial consonant is different, and the semantic motivation unclear). The form jetcock may show folk-etymological reanalysis of the first element as jet n.², with reference to the colour of the bird's crown, or simply result from assimilation before the voiceless initial consonant of the second element.