English
twig
Twig comes from Proto-West Germanic *twiggu ‘small twig, shoot’.
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*twiggu‘small twig, shoot’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150twigg
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500twig
- Englishearliest quotation 1907twig
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*twiggu‘small twig, shoot’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150twigg
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500twig
- Englishearliest quotation 1907twig
Earliest quotation: 1907, Harold Bindloss, Toronto: “A beech wood with silver firs in it rolled…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ ‘two’
two, doubt, vice, defeat, dual, duo, binary, vicious, diplomacy, twin, dubious, duet, bis, disparate, biceps, twain, deuce, bes, binocular, betwixt, 21 more
Another origin of twig
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁unéktiuncertain
- Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*unketiuncertain
- Middle Irishc. 900–1200tuiciduncertain
- Scottish Gaelicmoderntuig‘to understand’uncertain
- Englishtodaytwig
Today it means
noun A small thin branch of a tree or bush.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *twiggu / twig