English Explanatory Dictionary

twig

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A small thin branch of a tree or bush.
  2. Somebody, or one of their body parts, not looking developed.
verb
  1. To beat with twigs.
verb
  1. To realise something; to catch on; to recognize someone or something.
  2. To be realized and understood; to click.
  3. To understand the meaning of (a person); to comprehend.
  4. To observe slyly; also, to perceive; to discover.
verb
  1. To pull
  2. To twitch
  3. To tweak

Pronunciation

/twɪɡ/ [tʰw̥ɪɡ] en-us-twig.ogg

Word forms

twig twigs twigging twigged

Etymology

PIE word *dwóh₁ From Middle English twig, twyg, twigge, twygge, from Old English twigg, twicg, from Proto-West Germanic *twiggu (“small twig, shoot”), apparently a diminutive of Proto-West Germanic *twig (“branch, twig”) (whence also Old English twiġ and twiġa), from Proto-Germanic *twīgą, from Proto-Indo-European *dweygʰom, from *dwóh₁. More at two. Cognates Cognate with North Frisian twiich, twiig (“twig”), Saterland Frisian Twiech (“branch, twig”), West Frisian twiich (“twig”), Dutch twijg (“twig”), German Zweig (“branch, twig; section”), German Low German Twieg (“branch, twig”), Luxembourgish Zwäig (“twig”), Yiddish צווײַג (tsvayg, “branch”); also Old Church Slavonic двигъ (dvigŭ, “branch”), Albanian degë (“branch”).

Synonyms

tillow get it notice clock fathom figure out grasp ken work out check out peep spy on surveil

Related words

twigloo

Derived words

a twig in a bundle cannot be broken a twig in a bundle is unbreakable battle-twig hop the twig in prime twig lime-twig Macaya green twig anole off one's twig one cannot break a twig in a bundle one can't break a twig in a bundle twig and berries twiglet twig rune twig snake twig wilter you cannot break a twig in a bundle you can't break a twig in a bundle
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