English
grice
Grice comes from Middle English gris ‘a young pig, grice’, and goes back to Old Norse gríss.
- Old Norsec. 800–1350gríss‘male pig’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gris‘a young pig, grice’
- Englishearliest quotation 1641grice
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Old Norsec. 800–1350gríss‘male pig’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gris‘a young pig, grice’
- Englishearliest quotation 1641grice
Earliest quotation: 1641, Ben Jonson: “This fine Smooth bawson cub, the young grice of…”
Every English word from Old Norse gríss
Today it means
noun A pig, especially a young pig, or its meat; sometimes specifically, a breed of pig or boar native to north Britain, now extinct.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old Norse gríss / grice