Re: Clueless roolz...

At 5:20:58 PM on Wednesday, April 23, 2008, tolgs001 wrote:

>> Dansk Etymologisk Ordbog

>> igle ["leech"], MDa. egel, igel, No. igle, Sw. igel, MLG
>> egel, OS, OHG igil, Germ. Igel "hedgehog" (really "snake
>> eater"), OE igel; from Gmc. *eGila-, to which sideforms
>> with i: like ON ígull, OHG i:gil, OE i:gel: deriv. in
>> *-ila, *-ula to IE *eg^hi- "leech", to which eg. also Gr.
>> échis "snake", Lith. ez^y~s, Gr. echi~nos "hedgehog".

> Are these related to hedgehog, too? I mean etymologically.
> Romanian hârciog (or hîrciog), Hungarian hörcsög
> /'hör-c^ög/, along with cricetus.

English <hedgehog> is a compound of <hedge> and <hog>: the
hedgehog is an animal with a pig-like snout that frequents
hedgerows. It's first attested in the first half of the
15th century.

Brian