Piglet

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈpɪɡ.lət/

Definitions

1. A small, young member of the swine species that relies heavily on its mother for nourishment until it matures into adulthood
2. An infant pig that is in the early stages of life and remains dependent on parental care for survival and growth
3. A young swine that is characterized by its small size and inherent dependence on its mother for sustenance and development during its formative stages

Etymology: "Piglet" is about as transparent as English compounds get: "pig" plus the diminutive suffix "-let," the same ending found in "booklet," "droplet," and "starlet." The suffix comes from Old French "-elet" and was borrowed into English to mark something small of its kind, so a piglet is literally a little pig. The more surprising part is what the word replaced. Before "piglet" became standard, English speakers used "fearh," an Old English word that survives only in its ancestral form and has no modern descendant. The newer coinage gradually pushed that older term out of use, and "piglet" was attested in writing from 1855, a relatively late arrival for such an everyday animal name.

Synonyms: young pig, swinelet