pig

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpɪɡ/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English pigge, probably from Old English *picga, *pigga, found in compounds,^[2][3][4] perhaps the first element of Old English picbrēd, acorn, literally pig-bread;^[5][3] like dog, its further etymology is unknown.^[2][4] It is apparently related to Low German bigge and Dutch big, though the phonology is difficult.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A young pig: before 1225 in the OED, about 1250 in Barnhart;^[6][3] as a surname from 1186.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Word Origins notes that pig appears in Old English only once, the usual word being swine, and that in the Middle Ages it first meant a young pig, as it still does in North America.^[7][2] By the early 14th century it was used of a swine of any age or sex.^[2] Applied to persons in contempt from the 1540s,^[2] and a police officer in underworld slang since at least 1811.^[2] An oblong mass of metal from a smelting furnace is from the 1580s.^[2][4] The verb, of a sow, to farrow, is mid-15th-century, and to live like a pig from the 1670s.^[2] Pig in a poke uses poke, a small sack.^[7]

Timeline

• 1186 – Pig, as a surname.^[3]
• before 1225 – a young pig.^[6]
• early 14th century – any swine.^[2]
• 1540s – a contemptible person.^[2]
• 1580s – a pig of metal.^[2]
• 1811 – a policeman (slang).^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A domesticated omnivorous mammal with a stout body, short legs and a snout, kept for its meat; a hog or swine.
2. (informal) A greedy, dirty or unpleasant person.
3. (offensive slang) A police officer.
4. An oblong mass of metal, especially iron, cast from a smelting furnace.

Verb

1. (informal) To eat greedily: pig out.
2. Of a sow, to give birth to piglets.

Word family

• piglike

Related words

• piglet
• piggy
• pigtail
• swine
• hog
• sow
• boar
• pork

References

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