Kochet is who? The origin of the word "kochet"

A lot of Russian words with obscure and semi-intelligible meanings migrated from Old Slavonic into modern language. One of these ghost words is kochet. This word is often found in the composition of Slavic surnames, but does not occur separately separately.

The meaning of the word "kochet"

It can be searched in the explanatory dictionaries of Dahl and Ozhegov. The main meaning of this word is a cock, a male chicken. So in the old days they called the leader of the chicken tribe. Chickens in the old times were a delicacy, and the possession of these poultry could be the hallmark of one or another master.

In the vocabulary of hunters, cats are also the main male in a flock of birds that have been hunted. Since males in nature have the most beautiful plumage, hunters often decorated their headgear with feathers of wild birds.

Ancient proverbs

The rooster in the chicken family was the lord and master. He had many diminutive names. Before us came "kokosh", "kokoshok", "kochetok" and, probably, "kokot". So the word "kochet" smoothly passed from bird identification to human relations. In the old Russian family, kochet is a husband, a master, and sometimes just a man. This interpretation is confirmed by old proverbs, for example: "Every kokoshok wants to crow," "Important as a kochetok." The characteristics of the cockerel, its pugnaciousness, cockiness, singing and excellence among others, were also transferred to many spheres of human life, for example, the character and luck of man: "A humble dog and kochetok will beat," "Whoever creeps, from that and the cock will fly" "Every rooster is in his court master." It was also noted the ability of the cock to sing at dawn: "While the third cockerel does not sing, the day does not come," "Every cock knows his hour," "Pop and no kittens singing", and many others.

Portable values

As is often accepted in sayings, the meaning of the word "kochet" is allegorical. Ancient riddles and proverbs singled out the main qualities of kochetov and transferred them to other objects and phenomena.

"Everyone wants to bark bark." In this puzzle kochet - this is a gun. "Red kochetok on the perch runs" - kochet already represents a lighted beam, fire in general. In the old dictionaries we find the secondary meanings of the word "kochet". This is a children's game, such as burners, and pegs, planted in the side of the boat. This word was also called a windmill - a weathervane with a picture of a perky bird.

The popularity of this bird is smoothly embedded in many Russian surnames, at the root of which the word "kochet" occurs. These are the Kochetkovs, and the Kochetovs, and the Kokotovs, and the Kokoshilovs.

So the word, after surviving centuries and forgetting its original meaning, returns to us as our own surnames.