What is "coney"

Hind \Hind\ (h[imac]nd), n. [AS. hind; akin to D. hinde, OHG. hinta, G. hinde, hindin, Icel., Sw., & Dan. hind, and perh. to Goth. hin[thorn]an to seize (in comp.), E. hunt, or cf. Gr. kema`s a young deer.]

1. (Zo["o]l.) The female of the red deer, of which the male is the stag.

2. (Zo["o]l.) A spotted food fish of the genus Epinephelus, as Epinephelus apua of Bermuda, and Epinephelus Drummond-hayi of Florida; -- called also coney, John Paw, spotted hind.

Cony \Co"ny\ (? or ?; 277), n. [OE. coning, conig, coni, OF. connin, conin, connil, fr. L. cuniculus a rabbit, cony, prob. an Hispanic word.] [Written also coney.]

1. (Zo["o]l.)

   1. A rabbit, esp., the European rabbit ( Lepus cuniculus).

   2. The chief hare.

      Note: The cony of Scripture is thought to be Hyrax Syriacus, called also daman, and cherogril. See Daman.

2. A simpleton. [Obs.]

   It is a most simple animal; whence are derived our usual phrases of cony and cony catcher.
   --Diet's Dry Dinner (1599).

3. (Zo["o]l.)

   1. An important edible West Indian fish ( Epinephelus apua); the hind of Bermuda.

   2. A local name of the burbot. [Eng.]

c.1200, from Anglo-French conis, plural of conil "long-eared rabbit" (Lepus cunicula) from Latin cuniculus (source of Spanish conejo, Portuguese coelho, Italian coniglio), the small, Spanish variant of the Italian hare (Latin lepus), the word perhaps from Iberian Celtic (classical writers say it is Spanish).\n

\n Rabbit arose 14c. to mean the young of the species, but gradually pushed out the older word 19c., after British slang picked up coney as a punning synonym for cunny "cunt" (compare connyfogle "to deceive in order to win a woman's sexual favors"). The word was in the King James Bible [Prov. xxx:26, etc.], however, so it couldn't be entirely dropped, and the solution was to change the pronunciation of the original short vowel (rhyming with honey, money) to rhyme with boney. In the Old Testament, the word translates Hebrew shaphan "rock-badger." Rabbits not being native to northern Europe, there was no Germanic or Celtic word for them.

n. 1 (alternative spelling of cony lang=en nodot=1) (gloss: rabbit). 2 (alternative spelling of cony lang=en nodot=1) (gloss: fish).

1. n. black-spotted usually dusky-colored fish with reddish fins [syn: Epinephelus fulvus]

2. any of several small ungulate mammals of Africa and Asia with rodent-like incisors and feet with hooflike toes [syn: hyrax, cony, dassie, das]

3. small short-eared burrowing mammal of rocky uplands of Asia and western North America [syn: pika, mouse hare, rock rabbit, cony]

4. any of various burrowing animals of the family Leporidae having long ears and short tails; some domesticated and raised for pets or food [syn: rabbit, cony]

The Côney is a long river in the Vosges and Haute-Saône départements, northeastern France. Its source is near Lion Faing, a lieu-dit in Dounoux. It flows generally southwest. It is a left tributary of the Saône into which it flows in Corre.

It shares its valley with the canal de l'Est on most of its course.