English
dig
Dig comes from Old English dīcian ‘to dig a ditch, mound up earth’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *dīkaz.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*dīkaz‘earthwork: ditch, dyke, dam’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dīk‘earthwork’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanic, derivedc. 200–500 CE*dīkōn‘to dig a ditch’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150dīcian‘to dig a ditch, mound up earth’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500diggen
- Englishearliest quotation 1551dig
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*dīkaz‘earthwork: ditch, dyke, dam’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dīk‘earthwork’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanic, derivedc. 200–500 CE*dīkōn‘to dig a ditch’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150dīcian‘to dig a ditch, mound up earth’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500diggen
- Englishearliest quotation 1551dig
Earliest quotation: 1551, Thomas More, (please specify the Internet Archive page): “You should have seen children […] dig and push…”
The story
From Middle English diggen (“to dig”, 13th c.), an alteration of dīken, from Old English dīcian (‘to dig a ditch, mound up earth’), from Proto-West Germanic *dīkōn, which see for cognates. This verb is denominal from Proto-Germanic *dīkaz (‘pool, puddle; dyke, ditch’), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeygʷ- (‘to stab, dig’). The form with g may have been influenced by Old French *diguer, a variant of dikier, itself from the West Germanic verb above. French forms with g are attested only in the 15th c., thus 200 years later than in English.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dʰeygʷ- ‘to stick, stab, dig’
final, fine, finish, fix, definition, infinite, infinity, finite, fin, dyke, financier, crucify, infinitive, dike, fino, finis, finial, 23 more
through Proto-West Germanic *dīk ‘earthwork’
through Middle English diggen
Another origin of dig
- Wolofmoderndëggdisputed
- Englishtodaydig
From African American Vernacular English; due to lack of writing of slave speech, etymology is difficult to trace, but it has been suggested that it is from Wolof dëgg, dëgga (‘to understand, to appreciate’).disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it. It has also been suggested that it is from Irish dtuig, thus being a doublet of twig. Others do not propose a distinct etymology, instead considering this a semantic shift of the existing English term (compare dig in/dig into).
Today it means
verb To move hard-packed earth out of the way, especially downward to make a hole with a shovel. Or to drill, or the like, through rocks, roads, or the like. More generally, to make any similar hole by moving material out of the way.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *dīkaz / dig