Scribd
Upload
24 views

Etymology and Related Terminology

The term "domestic dog" refers to both domesticated and feral varieties of the species. The English word "dog" comes from Old English terms meaning powerful breeds. It may derive from Proto-Germanic terms referring to fingers or muscles. In 14th century England, "hound" was used for all domestic canines while "dog" referred to a specific hound type, but by the 16th century "dog" had become the general term. Male canines are referred to as dogs, females as bitches, and their offspring as pups or puppies until about 1 year old.

Uploaded by

Bineet Kumar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
24 views

Etymology and Related Terminology

The term "domestic dog" refers to both domesticated and feral varieties of the species. The English word "dog" comes from Old English terms meaning powerful breeds. It may derive from Proto-Germanic terms referring to fingers or muscles. In 14th century England, "hound" was used for all domestic canines while "dog" referred to a specific hound type, but by the 16th century "dog" had become the general term. Male canines are referred to as dogs, females as bitches, and their offspring as pups or puppies until about 1 year old.

Uploaded by

Bineet Kumar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 1

Etymology and related terminology

The term "domestic dog" is generally used for both of the domesticated and feral varieties. The
English word dog comes from Middle English dogge, from Old English docga, a "powerful dog
breed".[9] The term may possibly derive from Proto-Germanic *dukkn, represented in Old
English finger-docce ("finger-muscle").[10] The word also shows the familiar petname diminutive ga also seen in frogga "frog", picga "pig", stagga "stag", wicga "beetle, worm", among others.[11] The
term dog may ultimately derive from the earliest layer of Proto-Indo-European vocabulary, reflecting
the role of the dog as the earliest domesticated animal.[12]
In 14th-century England, hound (from Old English: hund) was the general word for all domestic
canines, and dog referred to a subtype of hound, a group including the mastiff. It is believed this
"dog" type was so common, it eventually became the prototype of the category "hound". [13] By the
16th century, dog had become the general word, and houndhad begun to refer only to types used for
hunting.[14] Hound, cognate to German Hund, Dutch hond, common Scandinavian hund, and
Icelandic hundur, is ultimately derived from the Proto-Indo-European *kwon- "dog", found
in Sanskrit kukuur ( ),[15] Welsh ci (plural cwn), Latin canis, Greek kn, and Lithuanian u.[16]
In breeding circles, a male canine is referred to as a dog, while a female is called a bitch [17] (Middle
English bicche, from Old English bicce, ultimately from Old Norse bikkja). A group of offspring is
a litter. The father of a litter is called the sire, and the mother is called the dam. Offspring are, in
general, called pups or puppies, from French poupe, until they are about a year old. The process of
birth is whelping, from the Old English word hwelp (cf. German Welpe, Dutch welp, Swedish valpa,
Icelandic hvelpur).[18] The term "whelp" can also be used to refer to the young of any canid, or as a
(somewhat archaic) alternative to "puppy".

You might also like