cuò

cuþ is a term from Old English, written as cūþ in scholarly transcriptions and usually rendered today as cuþ, with the thorn letter Þ representing the th sound. It is an adjective that appears in early medieval texts with the broad sense of “known,” “famous,” or “familiar,” and it could also carry connotations of being skilled or noteworthy. In historical usage, cuþ was used to describe people, things, or knowledge that were well known within a community.

The word is etymologically linked to the Germanic family of languages. It is generally regarded as deriving from a Proto-Germanic root associated with knowing or being known, and it is linguistically important as the ancestor of several descendants in later stages of English. In particular, cuþ is the historical source of the Modern English word couth, and through the historical development of English, it contributed to the formation of the negative compound uncouth. The semantics of these descendants reflect a shift over time from a plain sense of “known” or “familiar” to more specialized or culturally loaded meanings.

The orthography of cuþ reflects Old English practice, with the letter þ (thorn) representing the th sound. The macron over the u (ū) in older editions indicates a long vowel. Today, cuþ is primarily of interest to linguists and historians of English, appearing most often in discussions of Old English vocabulary, etymology, and the evolution of related modern words rather than in contemporary usage.

For readers, cuþ serves as a key example of how a simple native term can give rise to related modern English forms and illustrate historical shifts in meaning and spelling.