su (Old English)
Where does "su" come from?
The Old English noun 'su', meaning a female pig or sow, traces back to Proto-West Germanic '*sū'[1][4]. This form developed directly from the Proto-Germanic noun '*sūz'[1][3][4]. At a deeper level, the Germanic term derives from Proto-Indo-European '*suH-'[1][3], an ancient base denoting a pig or swine that is also reflected in Latin 'sus' and Ancient Greek 'hûs'.
Open questions
- It is uncertain whether the Proto-Indo-European root derives from a verb meaning to give birth or connects to ancient Near Eastern terms such as Akkadian or Sumerian words for pig. [2]
Full etymology tree
- su (Old English), 'sow (female pig)'
- inherited *sū (Proto-West Germanic), 'sow (female pig)'
- inherited *sūz (Proto-Germanic), 'sow (female pig)'
- inherited *suH- (Proto-Indo-European), 'pig, hog, swine'
- derived *sewH- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to bear (a child)'
- derived *sew- (Proto-Indo-European)
- derived *sewH- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to bear (a child)'
- inherited *suH- (Proto-Indo-European), 'pig, hog, swine'
- inherited *sūz (Proto-Germanic), 'sow (female pig)'
- inherited *sū (Proto-West Germanic), 'sow (female pig)'
Ancestors
- *sū (Proto-West Germanic)
- *sūz (Proto-Germanic)
- *suH- (Proto-Indo-European)
Cognates and doublets
- ὗς (Ancient Greek)
- Sau (German)
- sus (Latin)
- sýr (Old Norse)
- свинья (Russian)
- so (Swedish)
Sources
- su (Old English) - Wiktionary
- suH- (Proto-Indo-European) - Wiktionary
- sūz (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary
- sū (Proto-West Germanic) - Wiktionary
- sewH- (Proto-Indo-European) - Wiktionary
Updated October 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris