"Coquecigrue is one of the 'fearful wildfowl' of Rabelais' invention. These hippogriffs and other monsters are painted on the Chinese lanterns hung up in the pastry-cooks' shops." — The Journal of Education, October 1, 1893
Definition:
: an imaginary creature regarded as an embodiment of absolute absurdity
About the Word:
As the embodiment of absolute absurdity, no other creature could provide the final word of this list of monsters. Unfortunately, our website cannot support the coquecigrue in all its glory, so click here to view the full effect.
The word is of French origin—François Rabelais in Gargantua uses the phrase à la venue des cocquecigrues to mean "never." Charles Kingsley later translated that phrase in The Water Babies, when the fairy Bedonebyasyoudid reports that there are seven things he is forbidden to tell until "the coming of the Cocqcigrues."
Although we've reached the end of this list, the dictionary is dark and full of terrors, and you'll only find an end to the frightful creatures contained therein upon the coming of the Coquecigrue.
Photo credit: Tory Novikova
