# Cuckolding **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 29, 1999, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuckolding/4403 "1999-10-29T00:05:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 1999, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuckolding/4403/21 "1999-11-01T22:46:00Z")
FWIW, the italian word “cornuto” means cuckold, but also means “horned”. * * * J’ai assez vécu pour voir que différence engendre haine. Stendhal ---
**Author:** ![krish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c57346/32.png) [@krish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/krish)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 1999, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuckolding/4403/22 "1999-11-02T01:58:00Z")
It appears as though this expression/myth/whatever is used in places other than England. How far back does it go? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 1999, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuckolding/4403/23 "1999-11-02T02:49:00Z")
E1skeptic wrote: > [@](#): > > Sounds to me that Dr.F is right (as usual). I will have to do some research now. I reserve the right to be as mind-numbingly bull-headedly **wrong** as anyone else here. I heard of the capon/spur thing through Ren Faire connections, and the tight-assed Kostume Kop who told me it would rather be caught wearing polyester than be wrong about anything medieval. The practice may have been Continental as well as English. I haven’t heard of any references to it earlier than the early 17th century, but I haven’t looked very hard. Research? I don’t need no steenkin’ RESEARCH! (no offense, E1…) ---
**Author:** ![krish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c57346/32.png) [@krish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/krish)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 1999, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuckolding/4403/24 "1999-11-02T03:38:00Z")
I am pretty sure there is a reference to it in _Everyman_, a morality play from the 15th century. ---
**Author:** ![E1skeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3da27b/32.png) [@E1skeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E1skeptic)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 1999, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuckolding/4403/25 "1999-11-02T09:10:00Z")
Believe it or not, I got this from a search engine: [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_286a.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_286a.html) I wonder if Dr.F had any knowledge of it… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 1999, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuckolding/4403/26 "1999-11-02T13:26:00Z")
Those wiley Greeks. They have a word for EVERYTHING. It’s like a whole different language… Okay, now we just need someone to be interested enough to find an early citation for the term. Any takers? ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 1999, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuckolding/4403/27 "1999-11-03T06:41:00Z")
My three sources (no real serious research here, mind you, I looked in 2 online dictionarys and one book I happened to have right next to the computer!) seem to agree on a late middle ages origin for the term. _The Women’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets_ claims “late medieval”, the OEM “Late middle ages” and Merriam-Webster “13th century.” If I think of it at work tomorrow, I’ll do a little more research. * * * ``` Jess ``` Full of 'satiable curtiosity [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuckolding/4403.md?page=1)