Etymologically
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dig

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /dɪɡ/[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English diggen, of uncertain origin,[2][3][4] perhaps related to dike and ditch,[2][3][5] either through Anglo-French diguer, from Old French digue, dike, or from an unrecorded Old English verb formed from dīc, ditch.[3][5][6] MWU suggests an imitative origin.[4] The older native words were delve and grave.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To make a ditch or excavation: probably before 1200, in the Ancrene Riwle, in Barnhart;[2] about 1200 in Etymonline.[3]

Semantic evolution

To obtain or remove by digging is from the late 14th century, and figuratively to discover by search from the early 15th century.[3] To thrust or force something in is by 1885.[3] The past participle was originally digged; dug, on the analogy of stuck, arose in the 16th century.[2][5] In 19th-century American student slang dig meant to study hard (1827), and in African-American English of the 1930s to understand or appreciate (1934–36).[3][2] The noun, a tool for digging, is from the late 17th century; a poke, as with an elbow, from 1819, a sarcastic remark from 1840, and an archaeological excavation from 1896.[2][3] Lodgings, digs, are from diggings (1914 for the verb).[7][8]

Timeline

  • before 1200 – to dig.[2]
  • 16th century – the past participle dug.[2]
  • 1819 – a poke.[2]
  • 1840 – a sarcastic remark.[2]
  • 1896 – an archaeological dig.[2][3]
  • 1934 – to understand, appreciate.[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To break up and move earth with a tool, hands or claws.
  2. To make a hole or tunnel by digging.
  3. To search for or discover: dig up the facts.
  4. To poke or push into: dug his elbow into my ribs.
  5. (dated slang) To like or understand.

Noun

  1. An archaeological excavation.
  2. A poke or push.
  3. A cutting or critical remark.
  4. digs (British, informal): lodgings.

Word family

  • redig
  • underdig
  • dig in
  • dig out
  • dig up
  • digger
  • ditch
  • dike
  • dug
  • delve

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins