thug
/θʌɡ/
noun
Origin
Hindi
ṭhag — swindler, cheat
Overview
Meaning Now
- A violent person, especially a criminal.
- Historically, a member of a religious organization in India that waylaid and strangled travelers.
Literal older meaning
deceiver; cheat
Language path
Sanskrit → Hindi → English
Earliest form
thug
Earliest period
19th century
Journey
The term originates from the Thuggee cult, a secret fraternity of professional assassins in India who were active from the 17th to the 19th centuries. They were famous for ritualized strangulation of travelers. The British colonial administration conducted a massive campaign to eradicate the organization in the 1830s.
Evolution
- Sanskrit
sthagati
“to conceal or cover”
Root sense of concealing or hiding.
- Middle Indo-Aryan
ṭhaga
“cheat, deceiver”
- 19th-century English
thug
“A member of the Thuggee sect”
Adopted into English during the British Raj.
- Modern English
thug
“Violent criminal”
Generalization of the term to refer to any violent ruffian.
Connections
Word parts
thug
root
deceiver
Related across languages
Hindi
ṭhag
cheat, swindler
Marathi
ṭhag
deceiver
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Related to thug
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.