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PlainSpell

pig

/ˈpɪɡ/noun, verb

pig is spelled P-I-G: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,679th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, pig means “Any of several mammalian species of the family Suidae, having cloven hooves, bristles and a snout adapted for digging; especially the domesticated…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of pig is pigs.

How many letters and syllables are in pig?

Letters3: P-I-G
Syllables1
In writing14 times per million words; the 5,679th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is pig?

Pig appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,679th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce pig?

  • /ˈpɪɡ/
  • [ˈpʰɪɡ]

Pig has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-pig.ogg, En-au-pig.ogg, Pronunciation_example_of_the_word_Pig_in_British_English.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with pig?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as pig.

Spelled with the same letters in another order: gip.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of pig

  • pigs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • pigging participle, present
  • pigged participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does pig mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    Any of several mammalian species of the family Suidae, having cloven hooves, bristles and a snout adapted for digging; especially the domesticated animal Sus domesticus.

    The man kept a pen with two pigs that he fed everything from carrots to cabbage.

  2. 2

    A young swine, a piglet (contrasted with a hog, an adult swine).

  3. 3

    The edible meat of such an animal; pork.

    Some religions prohibit their adherents from eating pig.

  4. 4

    A light pinkish-red colour, like that of a pig (also called piggy pink).

  5. 5

    derogatorySomeone who overeats or eats rapidly and noisily.

    You gluttonous pig! Now that you've eaten all the cupcakes, there will be none for the party!

  6. 6

    derogatoryA lecherous or sexist man.

    She considered him a pig, as he invariably stared at her bosom when they talked.

  7. 7

    derogatoryA dirty or slovenly person.

    He was a pig and his apartment a pigpen; take-away containers and pizza boxes in a long, moldy stream lined his counter tops.

  8. 8

    derogatoryAn obese person.

  9. 9

    ScotlandAn earthenware pot or jar

  10. 10

    ScotlandAn earthenware vessel used as a hot-water bottle

verb

  1. 1

    To give birth.

    The black sow pigged at seven this morning.

  2. 2

    To greedily consume (especially food).

    They were pigging on the free food at the bar.

  3. 3

    To huddle or lie together like pigs, in one bed.

  4. 4

    To live together in a crowded filthy manner.

  5. 5

    To clean (a pipeline) using a pig (the device).

noun

as PIG
  1. 1

    Persuade, Identify, GOTV, an electoral technique commonly employed in the United Kingdom.

  2. 2

    Police in gear.

  3. 3

    Acronym of pipe inspection gauge.

noun

as pIg
  1. 1

    Abbreviation of polyclonal immunoglobulin.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Pig in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchcochon, porc, pourceau (mammal of family Suidae), salaud (nasty or disgusting person)
GermanSchwein, Hausschwein, Sau, Sou, Facken, Mocke (mammal of family Suidae)
Portugueseporco, suíno (mammal of family Suidae), nojento (nasty or disgusting person)
Spanishcerdo, chancho, chon, coche, cochi, cochín (mammal of family Suidae)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does pig come from?

From Middle English pigge (“pig, piglet”) (originally a term for a young pig, with adult pigs being swyn (“swine”)), from Old English *picga, *pycga (attested in picgbrēad (“mast, pig-fodder”)), perhaps a diminutive of Proto-West Germanic *puk, *pūk (“pig”), which also gave rise to Middle Low German pûke, puyke (“pig, piglet”). Pokorny suggests this root might be somehow related to *bū-, *bew- (“to blow; swell”), which could account for the alternation between "pig" and "big".

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after pig