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twig 1 (twĭg)
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n.
1. A young shoot representing the current season's growth of a woody plant.
2. Any small, leafless branch of a woody plant.
[Middle English, from Old English twigge; see dwo- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
 
twig 2 (twĭg)
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v. twigged, twig·ging, twigs
Chiefly British
v.tr.
1. To observe or notice.
2. To understand or figure out: "The layman has twigged what the strategist twigged almost two decades ago" (Manchester Guardian Weekly).
v.intr.
To be or become aware of the situation; understand: "As Europe is now twigging, the best breeding ground for innovators who know how to do business is often big, competitive companies" (Economist).
[Perhaps from Irish Gaelic tuig-, stem of tuigim, I understand, from Old Irish tuicim.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
 
twig 3 (twĭg)
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n.
Archaic
The current style; the fashion.
[Origin unknown.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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