urchin

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɜːtʃɪn/ (UK); /ˈɝt͡ʃɪn/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English urchoun (“hedgehog”), borrowed from Old Northern French herichon (“hedgehog”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Vulgar Latin *hēriciō,^[2][3][4][6] from Latin ēricius (“hedgehog”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from ēr “hedgehog”, perhaps related to Greek khḗr “hedgehog”.^[3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A hedgehog (c. 1300 in Barnhart; before 1340 in the OED).^[3][7][4]

Semantic evolution

Throughout the 16th century the word was applied to people thought to resemble hedgehogs: a hunchback (1528), an ill-tempered girl (1534), a goblin or elf (1584), and a ragged child (1556).^[3][4][7] The sense of a mischievous child dates from about 1530,^[3][7] but the sense of a poor, raggedly dressed youngster was not common until after about 1780.^[4] The sea urchin was so called from its spines (1601),^[7] and in this sense urchin alone is now most familiar.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – a hedgehog.^[3][4]
• 1528 – a hunchback.^[7][3]
• c. 1530 – a mischievous child.^[7][3]
• 1584 – a goblin or elf.^[7][3]
• 1601 – a sea urchin.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A playful or mischievous child, especially a poor and ragged one, as in street urchins.
2. A sea urchin.
3. (archaic or dialect) A hedgehog.
4. (obsolete) An elf or goblin.

Word family

• sea urchin

Related words

• hedgehog
• echinus
• horror

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press