pig English · revision 7356

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=inherited|attested=before 1225|origins=ang *picga}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈpɪɡ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English pigge, probably from Old English *picga, *pigga, found in compounds,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) perhaps the first element of Old English picbrēd, acorn, literally pig-bread;^(NODE 1998)^(Barnhart 1988) like [[dog]], its further etymology is unknown.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) It is apparently related to Low German bigge and Dutch big, though the phonology is difficult.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A young pig: before 1225 in the OED, about 1250 in Barnhart;^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) as a surname from 1186.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==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.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Etymonline) By the early 14th century it was used of a swine of any age or sex.^(Etymonline) Applied to persons in contempt from the 1540s,^(Etymonline) and a police officer in underworld slang since at least 1811.^(Etymonline) An oblong mass of metal from a smelting furnace is from the 1580s.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) The verb, of a sow, to farrow, is mid-15th-century, and to live like a pig from the 1670s.^(Etymonline) ''Pig in a poke'' uses poke, a small sack.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1186 – Pig, as a surname.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1225 – a young pig.^(OED 1989)

+ * early 14th century – any swine.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1540s – a contemptible person.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1580s – a pig of metal.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1811 – a policeman (slang).^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A domesticated omnivorous mammal with a stout body, short legs and a snout, kept for its meat; a [[hog]] or [[swine]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' A greedy, dirty or unpleasant person.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(offensive slang)'' A police officer.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An oblong mass of metal, especially iron, cast from a smelting furnace.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(informal)'' To eat greedily: ''pig out''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Of a sow, to give birth to piglets.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[piglike]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[piglet]]

+ * [[piggy]]

+ * [[pigtail]]

+ * [[swine]]

+ * [[hog]]

+ * [[sow]]

+ * [[boar]]

+ * [[pork]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}