Pup

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /pʌp/

Definitions

1. A young dog, especially one recently born or still a puppy ; the young offspring of seals or similar carnivorous mammals ; a casual, informal word for a young person, often a boy or youth
2. An animal recently born from the dog species ; the young of some aquatic or land carnivorous mammals such as seals ; a friendly or informal way to refer to a young individual, typically male
3. A juvenile dog not yet mature ; the newborn or immature young of carnivorous marine animals like seals ; a slang term used for a youthful person, usually a boy

Etymology: "Pup" is a clipping of "puppy," which means the shortened form was made by chopping off the end of the longer word rather than arriving separately from another language. Puppy itself came into English from French, where "poupée" (doll) was the source of the earlier sense of a plaything, and the sense of a young dog developed from there. The clipped form took over the meaning of the young animal, and the same shortening gave rise to the informal use for a young person, especially a boy or youth.

Synonyms: puppy, dog, whelp