A rabbit, especially the European rabbit that people hunt for food and fur.
From Middle English conie, borrowed from Old French conin, from Latin cunniculus 'rabbit.' The word traveled through trade routes as rabbit breeding became economically important in medieval Europe, and the spelling eventually changed from 'conie' to 'cony' in English.
Cony was so important to medieval English economy that poachers hunting rabbits faced serious legal penalties, and entire industries depended on cony fur and meat—the word became tied to class struggles, with 'conycatcher' eventually becoming slang for a swindler who preys on victims like a hunter traps rabbits.
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