Etymologically
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frog

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /fɹɒɡ/ (UK)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English frogge, inherited from Old English frogga,[2][3][4] a diminutive related to frosc, forsc and frox (“frog”),[2][3][5] from Proto-Germanic *fruskaz,[3][5] cognate with Old Norse froskr, Middle Dutch vorsc and German Frosch.[2][3] It is probably literally a hopper, if it is from Proto-Indo-European *prew- (“to hop”).[2] Watkins calls the Old English -gga an obscure expressive suffix,[2] like that of docga, dog.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The tailless leaping amphibian: about 1000, in Ælfric's Glossary, in Barnhart and the OED.[3][6] Middle English forms include frogge (probably before 1200) and frog (1463).[3]

Semantic evolution

In the Middle Ages frog was a general term of abuse for a man or woman, from about 1330,[6][7] and in the 17th century it was applied to the Dutch and the French, the latter partly from alliteration and their reputation for eating frogs' legs.[7][8] As a name for a Frenchman it is from 1778.[6] A horny pad in the sole of a horse's hoof has been called a frog since 1610, probably a transferred use of the animal name.[6][5] A frog in the throat, hoarseness, is from the mid-19th century in Word Origins and 1909 in the OED.[7][6]

Timeline

  • c. 1000 – frogga.[3][6]
  • c. 1330 – a term of abuse.[6]
  • 1610 – the frog of a horse's hoof.[6]
  • 1719 – frog, a fastening.[3]
  • 1778 – a Frenchman (derogatory).[6]
  • 1909 – frog in the throat.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A tailless amphibian with smooth moist skin, webbed feet and long hind legs for leaping.
  2. A wedge-shaped horny pad in the sole of a horse's hoof.
  3. An ornamental fastening on a coat, a looped braid and button; or a loop on a belt holding a sword or bayonet.
  4. (offensive slang) A French person.

Word family

  • froglike
  • froggy
  • bullfrog
  • frogman
  • frogmarch
  • frog's-bit
  • frogstool
  • frosh
  • toad
  • tadpole

Usage notes

The fastening, first a belt loop for carrying a weapon (1719, in Defoe's Robinson Crusoe), then an ornamental fastening for a coat (1746), is of uncertain origin, perhaps from Portuguese froco, from Latin floccus (“tuft of wool”).[3][2] The Latin word for the animal, rāna, imitates croaking.[2]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press