chub

chub · noun¹

1. Old Norse · derived fromkumben“stumpy”
2. Old Norse · derived fromkubbr
3. Middle English · derived from*cubbe
4. Middle English · inherited fromchubbe“chub (the river fish)”
5. English todaychub

From chub (“short, thick fish species used as bait"; used metaphorically since 1558 for "lazy person”), from Middle English chubbe (“chub (the river fish)”), recorded since c.1450, probably an assibilated form of cub (“a lump, heap, mass”) and cob, from Middle English *cubbe (found only in derivative cubbel (“a block to which an animal is tethered”)), from Old Norse kubbr, kumbr (“block, stump, log”) and/or Old Norse kumben (“stumpy”), see kobbi. Cognate with Icelandic kubbur (“block, cube”), Norwegian kubb, kubbe (“block, stump, log”), Swedish kubb (“block, log”), and perhaps to Icelandic kubba (“to hew, chop, lop”) and Russian кубышка (kubyška). More at cob, kibble.

chub · noun²

Back-formation from chubby.

chub · noun³

1. Proto-Slavic · derived from*čubъ
2. Ukrainian · borrowed fromчуб“crest”
3. English todaychub

From Ukrainian чуб (čub, “crest”), from Proto-Slavic *čubъ.

Words from the same roots