pork
/pɔːrk/
noun
Origin
Latin
porcus — pig
Overview
Meaning Now
- The flesh of a pig used as food.
Language path
Latin → Old French → English
Earliest form
porc
Earliest period
13th century
Journey
Following the Norman Conquest of 1066, English developed a distinction where the name for the animal (of Germanic origin, e.g., 'pig', 'swine') remained in use by the peasantry, while the name for the culinary meat was adopted from the French-speaking nobility (e.g., 'pork', 'beef', 'mutton').
Evolution
- Proto-Indo-European
*porko-
“young pig”
- Latin
porcus
“pig, hog”
- Old French
porc
“pig”
Introduced to English following the Norman Conquest
- Middle English
pork
“flesh of a pig”
Semantic narrowing to designate the meat specifically
Connections
Word parts
pork
root
pig
Related across languages
French
porc
pig
Latin
porcellus
piglet
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Related to pork
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.