The original meaning seems to have been a common dog, as opposed to a well-bred one, or something like 'cur', and perhaps later came to be used for stocky dogs. Possibly a pet-form diminutive with suffix-ga (comparefrocga(“frog”),*picga(“pig”)), appended to a base*dog-,*doc- of unclear origin and meaning. One possibility isOld Englishdox(“dark, swarthy”) (comparefrocga fromfrox).[5] Another proposal is that it derives fromProto-West Germanic*dugan(“to be suitable”), the origin ofOld Englishdugan(“to be good, worthy, useful”),Englishdow,Dutchdeugen,Germantaugen. The theory goes that it could have been an epithet for dogs, commonly used by children, meaning "good/useful animal".[6] Another is that it is related to*docce(“stock, muscle”), from Proto-West Germanic*dokkā(“round mass, ball, muscle, doll”), whence Englishdock(“stumpy tail”).
In 14th-century England,hound (from Old Englishhund) was the general word for all domestic canines, anddog referred to a subtype resembling the modern mastiff and bulldog.[7] By the 16th century,dog had become the general word, andhound had begun to refer only to breeds used forhunting.[8] In the 16th century, the worddog was adopted by several continental European languages as their word formastiff.[9]
Despite similarities in forms and meaning, not related toMbabaramdog.
1870,Ouida [pseudonym; Maria Louise Ramé], “Introduction. His First Paper.”, inPuck: His Vicissitudes, Adventures, Observations, Conclusions, Friendships, and Philosophies.[…], volume I, London:Chapman and Hall,[…],→OCLC,page 2:
[…] I beg again to state, in my humility, that I am Only aDog. Such a littledog too.[…] I am very white, very woolly, very pretty indeed; covered all over with snowy curls, and having two bright black eyes and a black shiny tip to my nose like patent leather.
The preposterous altruism too![…]Resist not evil. It is an insane immolation of self—as bad intrinsically as fakirs stabbing themselves or anchorites warping their spines in caves scarcely large enough for a fair-sizeddog.
When Timothy and Julia hurried up the staircase to the bedroom floor, where a considerable commotion was taking place, Tim took Barry Leach with him.[…]. The captive made no resistance and came not only quietly but in a series of eager little rushes like a timiddog on a choke chain.
Any member of the family Canidae, including domestic dogs,wolves,coyotes,jackals, and their relatives(extant and extinct).
1989, John L. Gittleman,Carnivore Behavior, Ecology, and Evolution, page561:
This includes the development of hyena-like bone crushers (Osteoborus andBorophagus), a large bone-crushing huntingdog (Aelurodon), and another borophagine frugivorousdog (Carpocyon).
Entirely disregarding sex, Ch. Searchlight has a beautiful Cocker head, but as he is adog, his head is too fine and far too much upon the bitchy order.
1928,Siegfried Sassoon,Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man, Penguin, published2013, page149:
Firstly, he was there to encourage and assist the hounds (a scratch pack – mostlydog-hounds drafted from fox-hound kennels because they were over-sized)[…]
[A]t last Mahomed's stood straight up upon its vertebræ, and glared at me through its empty eyeholes, and cursed me with its grinning jaws, because I, adog of a Christian, disturbed the last sleep of a true believer.
2005, “Stay Fly”, in Jordan Houston, Darnell Carlton, Paul Beauregard, Premro Smith, Marlon Goodwin, David Brown, Willie Hutchinson (lyrics),Most Known Unknown[6], performed by Three 6 Mafia (featuring Young Buck, 8 Ball, and MJG), Sony BMG:
DJ Paul is adog; one you do not trust.
A mechanical device or support:
Any of various mechanical devices for holding, gripping, or fastening something, particularly with a tooth-like projection.
1994 July 21, Faye Fiore, “Congress relishes another franking privilege: Meat lobby puts on the dog with exclusive luncheon for lawmakers – experts on pork”, inLos Angeles Times[7]:
Congressmen gleefully wolfed down every imaginable version of the hot dog – smoked kielbasas, jumbo grillers, Big & Juicy's, kosherdogs and spiceddogs[…]
To this succeeded theSnaplance[sic], in which a motion was given to thedog, or cock, and a movable plate of steel, called the frizel, or hammer, was placed vertically above the pan to receive the action of the flint.
(preceded by definite article) Adance having a briefvogue in the 1960s in which the actions of a dog weremimicked.
[…] they were discovered in a very improper manner by the husband of the gypsy, who, from jealousy it seems, had kept a watchful eye over his wife, and haddogged her to the place, where he found her in the arms of her gallant.
1991 November 6, Dennis Barker, Christopher Sylvester, “Robert Maxwell obituary”, inThe Guardian[8]:
‘Notwithstanding Mr Maxwell’s acknowledged abilities and energy, he is not in our opinion a person who can be relied upon to exercise proper stewardship of a publicly quoted company.’ These words, from the conclusion of the interim report by two Department of Trade inspectors in 1970, were todog Maxwell for the rest of his business career.
2012 May 9, Jonathan Wilson, “Europa League: Radamel Falcao's Atlético Madrid rout Athletic Bilbao”, inthe Guardian[9]:
But this is not an Athletic that ever looks comfortable at the back – a criticism that has oftendogged Marcelo Bielsa's sides.
2021 June 21, Daisuke Wakabayashi, “Google Executives See Cracks in Their Company’s Success”, inThe New York Times[10],→ISSN:
Yet Google, which was founded in 1998, isdogged by the perception that its best days are behind it.
2026 January 20, Patrick Martin, “China's air force has technology that rivals the US's and it could be pivotal in any conflict over Taiwan”, inAustralian Broadcasting Corporation[11], archived fromthe original on20 January 2026, News[12]:
While the PLA has achieved significant technological milestones in recent years, it has also beendogged by a corruption scandal in its ranks. A number of senior officials have been purged, raising questions about how ready the PLA is to fight a war from a leadership perspective.
1999 March 30, “Shakedown”, inJAG, season 4, episode18, via CBS:
Harmon Rabb (David James Elliott): Are youdogging Harm's special meatless meatloaf? Sarah MacKenzie (Catherine Bell): Let's put it this way. If you were to make the Harmon Special on this ship, they'd have to unload it with the toxic waste.
1902, Winfield Scott Schley,Record of Proceedings of a Court of Inquiry:
A. We never stood 4 to 8 p.m. watches, sir. Wedogged our watches. Q. I suppose that is 6 to 8 p.m., then; it is a little indistinct. I mean the second dog watch.
2015, Tom Vetter,30,000 Leagues Undersea:
Meanwhile, wedogged the watch sections so that both halves of the crew could fetch full sea bags of uniforms and gear[…]
^Laurel Brinton, Alexander Bergs,Old English (2017,→ISBN), page 59: "In addition, the velar [ɡɡ] and palatal [ɡɡj] geminates could be written as <gg> or <cg>, as in <dogga> ~ <docga> ..."; Richard M. Hogg, Norman Francis Blake,The Cambridge History of the English Language (1992,→ISBN), volume 1, age 91 says much the same.
^Kim, Juliana (13 August 2025), “Why the origin of the word 'dog' remains a mystery”, inAll Things Considered[2],NPR, retrieved18 August 2025
Derived fromEnglishdog, which is translation of狗(gau2,“dog”), which is a homophone of九(gau2,“nine”), which is a euphemism of鳩 /鸠(gau1,“fucking; stupid”).
