dig
Contents |
English [edit]
Pronunciation [edit]
Etymology 1 [edit]
Middle English diggen (“to dig”), alteration (possibly due to Danish dige) of Old English dīcian (“to dig a ditch, to mound up earth”) (compare Old English dīcere (“digger”)) from dīc, dīċ (“dike, ditch”) from Proto-Germanic *dīkaz, *dīkiją (“pool, puddle”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰīgʷ-, *dʰeygʷ- (“to stab, dig”). Akin to Danish dige (“to dig, raise a dike”), Swedish dika (“to dig ditches”). Related to, but not derived from, Middle French diguer (“to dig”), itself a borrowing of the same Germanic root (from Middle Dutch dijc), as the Middle French word appears later than the Middle English word. More at ditch, dike.
Verb [edit]
dig (third-person singular simple present digs, present participle digging, simple past and past participle dug)
- (transitive, intransitive) To move hard-packed earth out of the way, especially downward to make a hole with a shovel. Or to drill, or the like, through rocks, roads, or the like. More generally, to make any similar hole by moving material out of the way.
- They dug an eight foot deep ditch along the side of the road.
- In the wintertime, heavy truck tires dig into the road, forming potholes.
- If the plane can't pull out of the dive it is in, it'll dig a hole in the ground.
- My seven-year-old son always digs a hole in the middle of his mashed potatoes and fills it with gravy before he starts to eat them.
Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Noun [edit]
dig (plural digs)
- An archeological investigation.
- (US, colloquial, dated) A plodding and laborious student.
- See digs.
Synonyms [edit]
- (archaeological investigation): excavation
Translations [edit]
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Etymology 2 [edit]
From African American Vernacular English; due to lack of writing of slave speech, etymology is difficult to trace, but it has been suggested that it is from Wolof dëgg, dëgga (“to understand, to appreciate”).[1] It has also been suggested that it is from Irish dtuig.[2] Others do not propose a distinct etymology, instead considering this a semantic shift of the existing English term.[3]
Verb [edit]
dig (third-person singular simple present digs, present participle digging, simple past and past participle dug)
- (slang) To understand or show interest in.
- You dig?
- (slang) To appreciate, or like.
- Baby, I dig you.
Translations [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ Smitherman, Geneva (2000), Black Talk: Words and Phrases from the Hood to the Amen Corner (revised ed.), Boston: Houghton Mifflin, ISBN 0-395-96919-0
- ^ Random House Unabridged, 2001
- ^ eg: OED, "dig", from ME vt diggen
Anagrams [edit]
Danish [edit]
Pronunciation [edit]
Pronoun [edit]
dig (nominative du)
- (personal) you (2nd person singular object pronoun, informal)
Usage notes [edit]
Also used as reflexive pronoun.
See also [edit]
| Number | Person | Inflection | Nominative | Accusative | Possessive | Reflexive | Reflexive possessive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | First | common | jeg | mig | min | ||
| neuter | mit | ||||||
| plural | mine | ||||||
| Second | common | du | dig | din | |||
| neuter | dit | ||||||
| plural | dine | ||||||
| formal | De | Dem | Deres | ||||
| Third | masculine | han | ham | hans | sig | sin | |
| feminine | hun | hende | hendes | ||||
| common | den | den | dens | ||||
| neuter | det | det | dets | sit | |||
| plural | sine | ||||||
| Plural | First | — | vi | os | vores | ||
| common | vor | ||||||
| neuter | vort | ||||||
| plural | vore | ||||||
| Second | – | I | jer | jeres | |||
| formal | De | Dem | Deres | ||||
| Third | – | de | dem | deres | sig | ||
Lojban [edit]
Rafsi [edit]
dig
Swedish [edit]
Pronunciation [edit]
Alternative forms [edit]
- dej (strongly colloquial)
Pronoun [edit]
dig
- you (objective case, singular)
- Jag såg dig aldrig där
- I never saw you there
- Jag såg dig aldrig där
- reflexive case of du: compare yourself
- Skulle du vilja lära dig jonglera?
- Would you like to learn how to juggle?
- Skar du dig på kniven?
- Did you cut yourself on the knife?
- Skulle du vilja lära dig jonglera?
See also [edit]
Usage notes [edit]
Note that some verbs have special senses when used reflexively. For example, do not confuse du lär dig att... ("you learn to...") [reflexive] with jag lär dig att... ("I teach you to...") or du lär dig själv att... ("you teach yourself to..."). Here, lär means teach(es) if it is not reflexive, but learn(s) if it is reflexive. Thus, the the separate pronoun "dig själv" is needed when object and subject agree, even though the verb should not be used in the reflexive case.
Also note that in the imperative, when there's usually no explicit subject given, the "själv" is dropped.
Declension [edit]
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Danish
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English verbs
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- American English
- English colloquialisms
- English dated terms
- English terms with unknown etymologies
- English terms derived from Wolof
- English terms derived from Irish
- English slang
- English irregular verbs
- English three-letter words
- Danish pronouns
- Lojban rafsi
- Swedish pronouns
