Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Cockney \Cock"ney\ (k[o^]k"n[y^]), n.; pl. {Cockneys} (-n[i^]z).
   [OE. cocknay, cokenay, a spoiled child, effeminate person, an
   egg; prob. orig. a cock's egg, a small imperfect egg; OE. cok
   cock + nay, neye, for ey egg (cf. {Newt}), AS. [ae]g. See 1st
   {Cock}, {Egg}, n.]
   1. An effeminate person; a spoilt child. ``A young heir or
      cockney, that is his mother's darling.'' --Nash (1592).

            This great lubber, the world, will prove a cockney.
                                                  --Shak.

   2. A native or resident of the city of London; -- used
      contemptuously.

            A cockney in a rural village was stared at as much
            as if he had entered a kraal of Hottentots.
                                                  --Macaulay.