hog

hog · noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*suH-
2. Proto-Celtic · derived from*sukkos
3. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*kewh₂-“to beat, hew, forge”
4. Proto-Germanic · derived from*hawwaną“to hew, forge”
5. Old Norse · derived fromhǫggva“to strike, chop, cut”
6. Old English · inherited fromhogg
7. Middle English · inherited fromhog
8. English todayhog

From Middle English hog, from Old English hogg, hocg (“hog”), possibly from Old Norse hǫggva (“to strike, chop, cut”), from Proto-Germanic *hawwaną (“to hew, forge”), from Proto-Indo-European *kewh₂- (“to beat, hew, forge”). Cognate with Old High German houwan, Old Saxon hauwan, Old English hēawan (English hew). Hog originally meant a castrated male pig, hence a sense of “the cut one”. (Compare hogget for a castrated male sheep.) More at hew. Alternatively from a Brythonic language, from Proto-Celtic *sukkos, from Proto-Indo-European *suH- and thus cognate with Welsh hwch (“sow”) and Cornish hogh (“pig”).

hog · noun²

Clipping of quahog.

Words from the same roots