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Definition dog

Etymology

From Middle English dogge (whence also Scots dug (“dog”)), from Old English dogga, docga, of uncertain origin.

The original meaning seems to have been a common dog, as opposed to a well-bred one, or something like 'cur', and perhaps later came to be used for stocky dogs. Possibly a pet-form diminutive with suffix -ga (compare frocga (“frog”), *picga (“pig”)), appended to a base *dog-, *doc- of unclear origin and meaning. One possibility is Old English dox (“dark, swarthy”) (compare frocga from frox).

In 14th-century England, hound (from Old English hund) was the general word for all domestic canines, and dog referred to a subtype resembling the modern mastiff and bulldog. By the 16th century, dog had become the general word, and hound had begun to refer only to breeds used for hunting. In the 16th century, the word dog was adopted by several continental European languages as their word for mastiff.

Noun

dog (plural dogs)

1. A mammal, Canis lupus familiaris, that has been domesticated for thousands of years, of highly variable appearance due to human breeding.
2. Any member of the Family Canidae, including domestic dogs, wolves, coyotes, jackals, foxes, and their relatives (extant and extinct); canid.
3. (often attributive) A male dog, wolf or fox, as opposed to a bitch or vixen.
4. (slang, derogatory) A dull, unattractive girl or woman.
5. (slang) A man (derived from definition 2).
6. (slang, derogatory) A coward.
7. (derogatory) Someone who is morally reprehensible.
8. (slang) A sexually aggressive man (cf. horny).
9. Any of various mechanical devices for holding, gripping, or fastening something, particularly with a tooth-like projection.
10. (Can we clean up this sense?) A click or pallet adapted to engage the teeth of a ratchet-wheel, to restrain the back action; a click or pawl. (See also: ratchet, windlass)
11. A metal support for logs in a fireplace.
12. (cartomancy) The eighteenth Lenormand card.
13. A hot dog.
14. (poker slang) Underdog.
15. (slang, almost always in the plural) Foot.
16. (Cockney rhyming slang) (from "dog and bone") Phone or mobile phone.