weathercock

Meaning

Noun

1. A weather vane, sometimes in the form of a cockerel.
2. (figuratively) One who veers with every change of current opinion; a fickle, inconstant person.
3. (Canada, US) A kind of wind pump whose top behaves like a weather vane, moving with the wind direction, but which also has a wheel attached to measure wind speed.

Verb

1. (intransitive) To turn upwind because of the difference in water pressure on two sides.
2. (intransitive) To veer into the direction of the oncoming (relative) wind.
3. (transitive) To act as a weathercock for.

Synonyms

weather vane

weathervane

vane

weather-vane

anemometer

wind gauge

giddy person

wind vane

frivolous person

wind cone

wheeler

cock

flibbertigibbet

scatterbrain

Translations

girouette

veleta

banderuola

ανεμοδείκτης

Wetterhahn

Wetterfahne

cata-vento

weerhaan

windhaan

windwijzer

rüzgârgülü

Windfahne

fırıldak

étourneau

Windrichtungsgeber

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: wetharcoke

In summary

From Middle English wetharcoke, weþercok, wedercoc, wederkok, equivalent to weather + cock.