Etymologically
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pig

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 13:51. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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
  • 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