twig 1  (tw ĭg)
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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.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2019 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
twig 2  (tw ĭg)
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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 ©2019 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
twig 3  (tw ĭg)
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n. Archaic The current style; the fashion.
[Origin unknown.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2019 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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