From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Peacock \Pea"cock'\ (p[=e]"k[o^]k'), noun [OE. pecok. Pea- in this word is from AS. pe['a], p[=a]wa, peacock, fr. L. pavo, prob. of Oriental origin; cf. Gr. taw's, taw^s, Per. t[=a]us, t[=a]wus, Ar. t[=a]w[=u]s. See {Cock} the bird.]
1. (Zo["o]l.) The male of any pheasant of the genus {Pavo}, of which at least two species are known, native of Southern Asia and the East Indies.
Note: The upper tail coverts, which are long and capable of erection, are each marked with a black spot bordered by concentric bands of brilliant blue, green, and golden colors. The common domesticated species is {Pavo cristatus}. The Javan peacock ({Pavo muticus}) is more brilliantly colored than the common species.
2. In common usage, the species in general or collectively; a peafowl.
{Peacock butterfly} (Zo["o]l.), a handsome European butterfly ({Hamadryas Io}) having ocelli like those of peacock.
{Peacock fish} (Zo["o]l.), the European blue-striped wrasse ({Labrus variegatus}); -- so called on account of its brilliant colors. Called also {cook wrasse} and {cook}.
{Peacock pheasant} (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of handsome Asiatic pheasants of the genus {Polyplectron}. They resemble the peacock in color.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: European butterfly having reddish-brown wings each marked with a purple eyespot [syn: {peacock butterfly}, {Inachis io}]
2: male peafowl; having a crested head and very large fanlike tail marked with iridescent eyes or spots
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
139 Moby Thesaurus words for "peacock": Dalmatian, antigorite, attitudinize, avifauna, baby bird, billy, billy goat, bird, bird of Jove, bird of Juno, bird of Minerva, bird of night, bird of passage, bird of prey, birdie, birdlife, birdy, boar, bubbly-jock, buck, bull, bullock, butterfly, cage bird, candy cane, chameleon, chanticleer, cheetah, chick, chrysotile, cock, cockerel, confetti, crazy quilt, cygnet, diving bird, dog, dove, drake, eagle, eaglet, entire, entire horse, firedog, fish-eating bird, fledgling, flightless bird, fowl, fruit-eating bird, fulmar, game bird, gander, gobbler, harlequin, hart, he-goat, insect-eating bird, iris, jaguar, leopard, mackerel, mackerel sky, marble, marbled paper, migrant, migratory bird, miles gloriosus, moire, mother-of-pearl, nacre, nestling, ocelot, opal, ophite, oscine bird, owl, passerine bird, patchwork quilt, peafowl, peahen, perching bird, pigeon, pontificate, pose, pose for effect, posture, prance, rainbow, ram, ratite, rooster, sea bird, seed-eating bird, serpentine, serpentine marble, shore bird, shot silk, songbird, spectrum, squab, stag, stalk, stallion, steer, storm petrel, stormy petrel, stot, strike a pose, strike an attitude, strut, strutter, stud, studhorse, swagger, swaggerer, swan, swank, swanker, swash, swashbuckle, swashbuckler, swasher, swell, tom, tom turkey, tomcat, top cow, top horse, tortoise shell, tup, turkey gobbler, turkey-cock, wading bird, warbler, water bird, waterfowl, wether, wildfowl, zebra
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:
Peacock (Heb. tuk, apparently borrowed from the Tamil tokei). This bird is indigenous to India. It was brought to Solomon by his ships from Tarshish (1 Kings 10:22; 2 Chr. 9:21), which in this case was probably a district on the Malabar coast of India, or in Ceylon. The word so rendered in Job 39:13 literally means wild, tumultuous crying, and properly denotes the female ostrich (q.v.).
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