Added 9 October 2026
pig
/ˈpɪɡ/ symbol
In Latin: sūs, porcus Wiktionary
symbol Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about pig at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
noun
-
Any of several mammalian species of the family Suidae, having cloven hooves, bristles and a snout adapted for digging; especially the domesticated animal Sus domesticus.
The man kept a pen with two pigs that he fed everything from carrots to cabbage.
- A young swine, a piglet .
-
The edible meat of such an animal; pork.
Some religions prohibit their adherents from eating pig.
verb
noun
- An earthenware pot or jar
- An earthenware vessel used as a hot-water bottle
Origin
From Middle English pigge (“pig, piglet”) (originally a term for a young pig, with adult pigs being swyn (“swine”)), from Old English *picga, *pycga (attested in picgbrēad (“mast, pig-fodder”)), perhaps a diminutive of Proto-West Germanic *puk, *pūk (“pig”), which also gave rise to Middle Low German pûke, puyke (“pig, piglet”). Pokorny suggests this root might be somehow related to *bū-, *bew- (“to blow; swell”), which could account for the alternation between "pig" and "big". Compare Middle Dutch pogge, puggen, pigge, pegsken (> dialectal Dutch pogge (“piglet”)), Middle Low German pugge (> Westphalian German Low German Pogge, Pugge, Püggsken (“pig, piglet”)).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)