codpiece

noun

cod·​piece ˈkäd-ˌpēs 

: a flap or bag concealing an opening in the front of men's breeches especially in the 15th and 16th centuries

Examples of codpiece in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

On Monday,YouTube star and singer Jojo Siwa inverted the fad by donning a codpiece for a headline-grabbing cover shoot with LadyGunn magazine. —Leah Dolan, CNN, 25 Sep. 2024

Titus just chucks his codpiece at him and tells him to clean it. —Jack King, Vulture, 11 Apr. 2024

Like so much in fashion, the jockstrap had obvious antecedents (the medieval codpiece among them), said Valerie Steele, director and chief curator of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. —Leanne Italie, Quartz, 7 Mar. 2024

In truth, many elements of a traditional Westwood show were there — the high platform shoe, the reference to 18th and 19th century dress, an irreverent glimpse of a butt cheek, even the codpieces seemed to be a nod to the brand’s history pioneering of underwear as outerwear in the 1980s. —Leah Dolan, CNN, 4 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English codpese, from cod "bag, scrotum" (going back to Old English codd, akin to Middle Dutch codde "cylindrical piece of wood," Old Frisian kudda "cudgel," Middle Low German kudde, kodde "hog," Old Norse koddi "pillow, scrotum," all from a Germanic base denoting something distended and unevenly shaped) + pese piece entry 1

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above