Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An imaginary land of easy and luxurious living.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An imaginary country of idleness and luxury; lotus-land.
  • noun The land of cockneys; London and its suburbs.
  • noun A London cockney.—This nickname is more than four hundred years old. For when Hugh Bigot added artificial fortifications to his naturally strong Castle of Bungey in Suffolk, he gave out this rhythme, therein vaunting it for impregnable:

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun A land in medieval myth, a land of plenty, a land of luxury and idleness.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun (Middle Ages) an imaginary land of luxury and idleness

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English cokaigne, from Old French, from (pais de) cokaigne, (land of) plenty, from Middle Low German kōkenje, diminutive of kōke, cake.]

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Examples

  • The orchestra will perform Edward Elgar's "Cockaigne" Overture and Vaughan Williams 'Symphony No. 2

    The Herald-Mail Online 2008

  • (Cockaigne) - Cable news talking head/America's Savior Glenn Beck, flush from the success of his "Redefining Honor" rally on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in our Nation's Capital this past weekend, revealed plans for his next audacious stab-at-aggrandizement -- uh, rather, rally to make utterly non-racist Americans finally and justifiably feel good about themselves and their pretty much non-racist ways.

    David Kronke: Glenn Beck Announces Details Of His Next Stunt -- Er, Rally -- For, Uh, Patriots 2010

  • I agree, there should be a niche for stories without magic/monsters set in an invented world - whether it be Lyonesse or Cockaigne.

    An Involuntary King, by Nan Hawthorne. Book review and Book Giveaway Carla 2010

  • Since 'urban fantasy' has caught on, there ought to be a place for its mirror image, stories set in some province of Cockaigne, but without the LOTR / D&D fantasy trappings.

    An Involuntary King, by Nan Hawthorne. Book review and Book Giveaway Carla 2010

  • PART III: STREET FOOD 8. Bologna, 1600s: The Game of Cockaigne 9. Naples, late 1700s: Maccheroni-Eaters

    Delizia! John Dickie 2008

  • Perhaps the most popular fables of all told of a Land of Cockaigne, a Land of Plenty, in which there were rivers of wine, fountains of oil, and mountains of cheese, and where roast suckling pigs trotted about on their own, ready to be eaten.

    Delizia! John Dickie 2008

  • The Cuccagna, or Cockaigne, was a multistory wooden structure decked out as a hill, a palace, a city, or such.

    Delizia! John Dickie 2008

  • Soon canny rulers began to see the Land of Cockaigne as a source of propaganda.

    Delizia! John Dickie 2008

  • Mitelli engraved thirty-three board games, including the Game of Cockaigne 1691.

    Delizia! John Dickie 2008

  • The Game of Cockaigne has its basis in a popular Bolognese patriotism, and in the spread of the idea that Italy was a land of local specialties.

    Delizia! John Dickie 2008

Comments

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  • This is how my husband pronounces cocaine.

    April 27, 2011

  • ... not that he goes around pronouncing it all the time ...

    April 27, 2011

  • ... or has any reason to.

    April 27, 2011

  • A Cockaigne bull story.

    April 27, 2011

  • I believe Wordnik protocol dictates that I take umbrage at this aspersion.

    April 27, 2011

  • Only if it's phoney.

    April 27, 2011

  • I emphatically declare its phoniness.

    April 27, 2011

  • *Only the phoney... know the way I feel tonight...*

    April 27, 2011

  • That was lovely.

    April 29, 2011