Cockle
/ˈkɒk.əl/noun
A common edible shellfish; also, a weed with pink flowers, or the wrinkling/buckling of a surface.
Did you know?English cockle is from Old English coccel, a plant name, and the shellfish name was later extended because its shell was thought to resemble the plant’s seed cases; the word’s deeper origin is uncertain, but it’s not a magical term despite its eerie sound.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
coccel
“A weed or darnel-like plant, especially one growing among grain”
Middle English
ME
cockle
“A weed or troublesome plant; later also the shellfish name”
Early Modern English
English
cockle
“A bivalve mollusk; also to wrinkle or pucker”
Modern English
English
cockle
“A shellfish, a weed, or a wrinkled/buckled surface”