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Gropecunt Lane

Gropecunt Lane (pronounced /ˈɡroʊpkʌnt ˈlɛɪn/) was a street name found in English towns and cities during the Middle Ages, believed to be a reference to the prostitution centred on those areas; it was normal practice for a medieval street name to reflect the street's function or the economic activity taking place within it. Gropecunt, the earliest known use of which is in about 1230, appears to have been derived as a compound of the words grope and cunt.[1] Streets with that name were often in the busiest parts of medieval towns and cities, and at least one appears to have been an important thoroughfare.

Although the name was once common throughout England,[2] changes in attitude resulted in its being replaced by more innocuous versions such as Grape Lane. Gropecunt was last recorded as a street name in 1561.

Toponymy

Variations include Gropecunte, Gropecountelane, Gropecontelane, Groppecountelane, and Gropekuntelane. There were once many such street names in England, but all have now been bowdlerised.[3] In the city of York, for instance, Grapcunt Lane—grāp is the Old English word for grope[4]—was renamed as the more acceptable Grape Lane.

The first record of the word 'grope' being used in the indecent sense of sexual touching appears in 1380;[4] cunt has been used to describe the female external genital organs since at least 1230, and corresponds to the Old Norse kunta, although its etymology is uncertain.[5]

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