English
hug
Hug comes from Proto-Germanic *hugiz ‘mind, thought, sense, understanding’.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hugiz‘mind, thought, sense, understanding’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350hugga
- Englishearliest quotation 1665hug
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hugiz‘mind, thought, sense, understanding’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350hugga
- Englishearliest quotation 1665hug
Earliest quotation: 1665, Joseph Glanvill, Scepsis Scientifica: Or: “We hug intellectual deformities, if they bear our names”.
Every English word from Proto-Germanic *hugiz
Today it means
noun A close embrace, especially when charged with an emotion such as affection, joy, relief, lust, anger, aggression, compassion, or the like, as opposed to being characterized by formality, equivocation or ambivalence (a half-embrace).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *hugiz / hug