wittol · noun — A man who knows and tolerates his wife's infidelity with another man or men; a mari complaisant. It carries an Arena rating of 1661, earned across 64 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, wittol ranks #1,098 of 17,151 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #1,599 of 17,146 for Most Storied Words, #1,660 of 17,197 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #1,886 of 17,201 for Funniest Words.
wittol is pronounced /ˈwɪtəl/.
Why “wittol” is a great word
WITTOL — [Noun] A man who is aware of and tolerates his wife's infidelity. From Middle English *witewold*, likely a blend of *witen* ("to know") and *cockewold* ("cuckold"), equivalent to *wit* + *cuckold*. Unlike "cuckold," which may imply a victim in ignorance, or "mari complaisant," which suggests a Gallic sophistication, "wittol" is the archaic English verdict for a specific, humiliating comprehension. It is the deliberate misplacement of a theatre programme, the fixed, unseeing gaze into a brandy glass while footsteps sound on the stair, and the precise calibration of a gaze that sees but will not acknowledge—a quiet testament to the accommodations of despair, where knowledge itself becomes the form of surrender.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
From Middle English witewold; likely a blend of witen (“to know”) + cockewold (“cuckold”), equivalent to wit + cuckold.
noun
- A man who knows and tolerates his wife's infidelity with another man or men; a mari complaisant.e.g.“To see […] a wittol wink at his wife's honesty, and too perspicuous in all other affairs […]” — 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC:
- A bird, the wheatear.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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