Scribd
Upload
22 views

Etymology and Related Terminology

The domestic dog is a carnivorous mammal that was the first animal to be domesticated by humans. Dogs are commonly kept as companions, working animals, and for hunting. There are an estimated 700 million to 1 billion domestic dogs worldwide, making them the most populous member of the order Carnivora. The English word "dog" comes from Old English words meaning powerful animal breed. In breeding, males are referred to as dogs and females as bitches. Offspring are called pups or puppies until about one year old.

Uploaded by

melerine16
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
22 views

Etymology and Related Terminology

The domestic dog is a carnivorous mammal that was the first animal to be domesticated by humans. Dogs are commonly kept as companions, working animals, and for hunting. There are an estimated 700 million to 1 billion domestic dogs worldwide, making them the most populous member of the order Carnivora. The English word "dog" comes from Old English words meaning powerful animal breed. In breeding, males are referred to as dogs and females as bitches. Offspring are called pups or puppies until about one year old.

Uploaded by

melerine16
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/ 2

Dog

The domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris or Canis familiaris) is a usually furry, carnivorous[2][3]
[4]
canid carnivoran mammal. Domestic dogs are commonly known as "man's best friend". The dog
was the first domesticated animal[5][6] and has been widely kept as a working, hunting,
and pet companion. It is estimated there are between 700 million and one billion domestic dogs,
making them the most abundant member of order Carnivora.[7][8]

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