codpiece

noun cod·piece \ ˈkäd-ˌpēs \

Updated on: 15 Mar 2018

Definition of codpiece

: a flap or bag concealing an opening in the front of men's breeches especially in the 15th and 16th centuries

Recent Examples of codpiece from the Web

With all the Broadway pizzazz anyone could want, the hilarious Something Rotten! has arrived at the Academy of Music (through March 4) with codpieces blazing and couplets rhyming.

— toby zinman, Philly.com, "'Something Rotten!' at Academy of Music is something hilarious," 28 Feb. 2018
European men around the same time wore codpieces to advertise their phallic prowess.

— john blake, CNN, "The fall of the sagging pants era is upon us," 20 Oct. 2017
The show begins with a prologue delivered (in Italian, with supertitles) by a commedia dell’arte-style clown in a codpiece (an antic Francesca Sarah Toich), who gleefully describes the transformative power of love.

— ben brantley, New York Times, "Review: A Flock of Shylocks Transforms ‘Merchant of Venice’," 25 Sep. 2017
The Bulge, the Tumor, the codpiece, was the safest place structurally in all of Trump Land by then.

— jeff vandermeer, Slate Magazine, "“Trump Land”," 10 Feb. 2017
A rare touring drama, a double-dose of the Phantom and Shakespeare in an enormous codpiece highlight the 2017-18 Hennepin Theatre Trust season, announced Monday.

— chris hewitt, Twin Cities, "Nine musicals and a drama in touring season at Orpheum," 23 Jan. 2017
Ty Lue has instructed all of his players to wear metal codpieces beneath their shorts to increase the likelihood that Draymond Green will have to exit the series with a severe foot injury.

— mike polk jr., cleveland.com, "Rational hopes, sick burns and unblocked shots for your NBA Finals pleasure: Mike Polk Jr.," 4 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'codpiece.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of codpiece

Middle English codpese, from cod "bag, scrotum" (going back to Old English codd, akin to Middle Dutch codde "cylindrical piece of wood," Old Frisian kudda "cudgel," Middle Low German kudde, kodde "hog," Old Norse koddi "pillow, scrotum," all from a Germanic base denoting something distended and unevenly shaped) + pese ¹piece

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First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined above

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