English
hound's tongue
Hound's tongue comes from Old English hundes tunge ‘hound’s tongue’.
- Old Englishc. 450–1150hundes tunge‘hound’s tongue’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500houndestonge
- Englishtodayhound's tongue
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Old Englishc. 450–1150hundes tunge‘hound’s tongue’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500houndestonge
- Englishtodayhound's tongue
Made of the words hound's + tongue
Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s
Proto-Germanic *tungǭ
Proto-West Germanic *tungā
Old English tunge
Middle English tongue
English tongue
The story
From Middle English houndestonge, from Old English hundes tunge (‘hound’s tongue (cynoglossum officinale)’), a calque of Latin cynoglossos, itself from Ancient Greek κυνόγλωσσον (kunóglōsson, literally “hound’s tongue”).
Every English word from Old English hundes tunge
Today it means
noun Any member of the genus Cynoglossum of small-flowered herbs and shrubs of the Old World.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old English hundes tunge / hound's tongue