cuckold /KUK-əld/. noun or verb. A man whose spouse has been unfaithful or the act making a cuckold of someone. Of late, a scornful political term embraced most strongly by white nationalists to describe their opponents, often abbreviated as cuck. From Middle English cukeweld (same meaning), from Old French cucuault: cocu (cuckoo) + pejorative suffix -ault.
The interesting aspect of the etymology is its roots in the behavior of the female cuckoo bird, some of which lay their eggs in the nests of—and leave them to be cared for by—other birds, leading to the figurative word we are becoming all too familiar with today.
“Wasn’t I yet another cuckolded husband, slightly distinguished by knowing how to self-define with an Old English word?” (Sherman Alexie)
“There is a word for taking another man’s wife – to cuckold. But what is the word for taking another man’s daughter?” (Zadie Smith)
“…Keith launched into a squalid decameron of recent gallops and tumbles, instant liaisons, valiant cuckoldries, eagerly requited grabbings and gropings, quickies and workouts and hip-twangers and knee-tremblers…” (Martin Amis)
“Once at the facility we got hold of a bootleg video of a group of cuckolded Guilter husbands talking about the difficulties of living with simultaneous rage and gratitude.” (George Saunders)
“To be a cuckold once was the luck of the game, but his double cuckoldry had a whiff of revenge about it.” (William Trevor)
“His face shone as if he had newly washed it with soap, so radiant was he in his enjoyment of his past experience of being robbed, cuckolded, and deserted, and in his sure and certain hope of being so again.” (Rebecca West)