urchin English · revision 936

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɜːtʃɪn/ ''(UK)''; /ˈɝt͡ʃɪn/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|urchoun|t=hedgehog]], [[bor|fro-nor|herichon|t=hedgehog]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from [[la-vul|*hēriciō]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) from [[la|ēricius|t=hedgehog]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from ''ēr'' “hedgehog”, perhaps related to Greek ''khḗr'' “hedgehog”.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A hedgehog (c. 1300 in Barnhart; before 1340 in the OED).^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==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).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The sense of a mischievous child dates from about 1530,^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989) but the sense of a poor, raggedly dressed youngster was not common until after about 1780.^(Etymonline) The [[sea urchin]] was so called from its spines (1601),^(OED 1989) and in this sense ''urchin'' alone is now most familiar.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1300 – a hedgehog.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1528 – a hunchback.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * c. 1530 – a mischievous child.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1584 – a goblin or elf.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1601 – a sea urchin.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A playful or mischievous child, especially a poor and ragged one, as in ''street urchins''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[sea urchin]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(archaic or dialect)'' A [[hedgehog]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' An elf or goblin.^(RHWU)^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sea urchin]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[hedgehog]]

+ * [[echinus]]

+ * [[horror]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}