hedgehog

C1 Topic:Animals

US /ˈhɛd͡ʒ.hɒɡ/ See IPA manual

Freq #12988

Meanings

1

noun
A small spiny mammal that rolls into a ball when threatened and is active at night.

A hedgehog curled up under the bushes in the garden.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a small spiny mammal that... urchin

Word family

Forms hedgehogs

Derived forms hedgehoggyhedgehoglesshedgehoglike

Related forms echidnaerinaceousporcupine

Etymology

From Middle English heyghoge; equivalent to hedge + hog. Eclipsed non-native Middle English yrchoun, irchoun (“hedgehog”), from Old French hirchoun, herichon (“hedgehog”); and displaced earlier Middle English il, from Old English īl, iġil (“hedgehog”). In the philosophical sense, from the 1953 essay The Hedgehog and the Fox by Isaiah Berlin. Compare typologically Korean 고슴도치 (goseumdochi) (<<+ Middle Korean 돝 (twoth, “pig, swine”)).

heyghoge Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Animals

External links

# hedgehog

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈhɛd͡ʒ.hɒɡ/
**Frequency rank:** 12988

## Meanings
1. A small spiny mammal that rolls into a ball when threatened and is active at night.

## Examples
- A hedgehog curled up under the bushes in the garden.

## Derived Forms
- hedgehoggy
- hedgehogless
- hedgehoglike

## Related Forms
- echidna
- erinaceous
- porcupine

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: heyghoge

## Etymology
From Middle English heyghoge; equivalent to hedge + hog. Eclipsed non-native Middle English yrchoun, irchoun (“hedgehog”), from Old French hirchoun, herichon (“hedgehog”); and displaced earlier Middle English il, from Old English īl, iġil (“hedgehog”). In the philosophical sense, from the 1953 essay The Hedgehog and the Fox by Isaiah Berlin. Compare typologically Korean 고슴도치 (goseumdochi) (<<+ Middle Korean 돝 (twoth, “pig, swine”)).

## AI Etymology
Hedgehog is from Middle English heyghoge; equivalent to hedge + hog. Eclipsed non-native Middle English yrchoun, irchoun (“hedgehog”), from Old French hirchoun, herichon (“hedgehog”); and displaced earlier Middle English il, from Old English īl, iġil (“hedgehog”). In the philosophical sense, from the 1953 essay The Hedgehog and the Fox by Isaiah Berlin. Compare typologically Korean 고슴도치 (goseumdochi) (<<+ Middle Korean 돝 (twoth, “pig, swine”)). In present-day use, it means a small spiny mammal that rolls into a ball when threatened and is active at night. Derived formations include hedgehoggy, hedgehogless, and hedgehoglike.

## Topics
- Animals

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