Etymograph

English

hoggan

Hoggan comes from Old Cornish hoggan, from Proto-Brythonic *hux ‘pig’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *suH-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*suH-‘pig, hog, swine’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*sukkos‘pig (snout)’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Brythonicc. 100 BCE–500 CE*hux‘pig’reconstructed
  4. Old Cornishmodernhoggan
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1852same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*suH-‘pig, hog, swine’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*sukkos‘pig (snout)’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Brythonicc. 100 BCE–500 CE*hux‘pig’reconstructed
  4. Old Cornishmodernhoggan
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1852same form

Earliest quotation: 1852, Chambers's Repository of Instructing and: “Some of the mine-owners provide no facilities whatever for…”

The story

Use of the term in Cornwall is attributed to Old Cornish hoggan, hogen (‘pork pasty; pie’), from hoch (‘pig’), from Proto-Brythonic *hux, from Proto-Celtic *sukkos, from Proto-Indo-European *suH-, related to Welsh hwch (‘sow’). However, the term was also common in Essex, so perhaps compare Old English hogg.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *suH- ‘pig, hog, swine’

swine, sow, hyena, 6 more

through Proto-Celtic *sukkos ‘pig (snout)’

sock, 1 more

Today it means

noun A pork pasty.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *suH- / hoggan

Shirt and support for this word