/ · 1894 Brewer’s · C · Coxcomb
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
An empty-headed, vain person. The ancient licensed jesters were so called because they wore a cock’s comb in their caps.
“Coxcombs, an ever empty race,
Are trumpets of their own disgrace.”
Gay: Fables, xix.
“Let me hire him too; here’s my coxcomb.”
Shakespeare: King Lear, i. 4.
The Prince of Coxcombs. Charles Joseph, Prince de Ligne. (1535–1614.)
Richard II. of England is sometimes called the Coxcomb. (1366, 1377–1400.)
Henri III. of France was called le Mignon, which means pretty well the same thing. (1551, 1574–1589.)
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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.
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