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Added 7 October 2026

peg

/ˈpɛɡ/ noun

Latin root: baculum Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about peg at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A wooden pin pushed or driven into a surface.
Small markers inserted into a surface to mark scores or define locations etc.
Informal terms for the leg.
fever left him weak on his sticks

verb

Succeed in obtaining a position.
He nailed down a spot at Harvard
Pierce with a wooden pin or knock or thrust a wooden pin into.
Fasten or secure with a wooden pin.
peg a tent

Origin

From Middle English pegge, from Middle Dutch pegge (“pin, peg”), from Old Dutch *pigg-, *pegg-, from Proto-Germanic *pig-, *pag- (“peg, stake”), from Proto-Indo-European *bak-, *baḱ- (“club, pointed stick, peg”). Cognate with Dutch dialectal peg (“pin”), Low German pig, pigge (“peg, stick with a point”), Low German pegel (“post, stake”), Swedish pigg (“tooth, spike”), Danish pig (“spike”), Norwegian Bokmål pigg (“spike”), Irish bac (“stick, crook”), Latin baculum (“staff”), Latvian bakstît (“to poke”), Ancient Greek βάκτρον (báktron, “staff, walking stick”). Related to beak. This is one of the very few English words that begin with a p and come from Proto-Germanic.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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