twig

twig · noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*dwigʰom
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*twīgą
3. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*twig“branch, twig”
4. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*twiggu“small twig, shoot”
5. Old English · inherited fromtwigg
6. Middle English · inherited fromtwig
7. English todaytwig

PIE word *dwóh₁ Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ Proto-Indo-European *dwi- Proto-Indo-European *dwigʰomder. Proto-Germanic *twīgą Proto-West Germanic *twīg Old English twiġ Middle English twig English twig From Middle English twig, twyg, twigge, twygge, from Old English twigg, twicg, from Proto-West Germanic *twiggu (“small twig, shoot”), apparently a diminutive of Proto-West Germanic *twig (“branch, twig”) (whence also Old English twiġ and twiġa), from Proto-Germanic *twīgą, from Proto-Indo-European *dwigʰom, from *dwóh₁. More at two. Cognates Cognate with North Frisian twiich, twiig (“twig”), Saterland Frisian Twiech (“branch, twig”), West Frisian twiich (“twig”), Dutch twijg (“twig”), German Zweig (“branch, twig; section”), German Low German Twieg (“branch, twig”), Luxembourgish Zwäig (“twig”), Yiddish צווײַג (tsvayg, “branch”); also Old Church Slavonic двигъ (dvigŭ, “branch”), Albanian degë (“branch”).

twig · verb²

Possibly from Irish and Scottish Gaelic tuig (“to understand”).

twig · verb³

Compare tweak.