Word.ws English Dictionary

cullion

Syllables: cul·lionUK/ˈkʌl.jən//ˈkʌl.jən/

cullion noun: synonym of testicle.

Noun

cullion (plural cullions)

  1. (obsolete, plural-normally) Synonym of testicle.
    • […] the kings enimies were vanquished, and put to flight, in which flight, the earle of Dowglas, for hast, falling from the crag of an hie mounteine, brake one of his cullions, and was taken, and for his valiantnesse, of the king frankelie and freelie deliuered.1587, Raphael Holinshed, “Henrie the fourth, cousine germane to Richard the second, latelie depriued”, in Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande, London: John Harison et al, page 523
    • As touching the galls, which by ouermuch riding on horseback be incident to the twist and the inner parts of the thigh, as euery man knoweth full well, which do burne and chaufe the skin in those parts; the fomie slime which a horse yeeldeth, as well from his mouth as his cullions, is soueraigne...1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book XXVIII.] 15.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus....
    Synonyms:
    testicle
  2. (archaic, offensive) Synonym of asshole or bollocks, a mean, vile, or otherwise contemptible person.
    • Mistake no more; I am not Licio.
      Nor a musician as I seem to be;
      But one that scorn to live in this disguise
      For such a one as leaves a gentleman
      And makes a god of such a cullion.c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    • He weares a lords reuenewe on his back,
      And Midas like he iets it in the court,
      With base outlandish cullions at his heeles,1594, Christopher Marlow[e], The Troublesome Raigne and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second, King of England: […], London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press] for Henry Bell, […], published 1622, →OCLC...
    Synonyms:
    asshole or bollocks

cullion meaning in Tamil

cullion in Tamil

கீழோன்

Synonyms of cullion

Forms of cullion

pluralcullions

Origin of cullion

From Middle English coilon, borrowed from Old French coillon (“testicle, vile fellow, coward, dupe”), from Vulgar Latin *cōleōnem, from Latin cōleus (“sack, scrotum”). Doublet of culeus and cojones.

Words formed from cullion

Questions about cullion

What does cullion mean?
Cullion means synonym of testicle.
What is cullion in Tamil?
Cullion in Tamil is கீழோன். See Cullion meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is cullion?
Cullion is a noun.
How do you pronounce cullion?
Cullion is pronounced /ˈkʌl.jən/ (UK).
What is the plural of cullion?
The plural of cullion is cullions.

Words near cullion in the dictionary

  1. cullings
  2. Cullington
  3. Cullingtons
  4. Cullingworth
  5. cullins
  6. cullion
  7. cullionly
  8. cullions
  9. cullis
  10. cullises
  11. Cullison

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: cullion (page history and authors); cullion (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-cullion.wav.

Cite this entry: “cullion.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cullion. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.