dug
UK[dʌɡ]US[dʌɡ]
v
Past tense and past participle of dig.
n
The teat or udder of a female mammal.
Etymology
The verb form 'dug' belongs to a class of English strong verbs that form their past tense through internal vowel change (ablaut), in this case from 'dig' /ɪ/ to 'dug' /ʌ/. This pattern is inherited from Proto-Germanic and ultimately Proto-Indo-European ablaut processes. The noun 'dug', meaning a teat, has a distinct lineage, likely deriving from Old Norse dugg or a related Germanic root, possibly connected to the concept of something that yields moisture or milk. Over time, the two homographs—the verb form and the mammary noun—converged in spelling by coincidence, representing separate etymological paths that merged in modern English orthography.
Analysis
This word is a simplex form. As a verb, it is an irregular past tense/past participle form of the verb 'dig'. As a noun, its origin is separate and obscure, likely from Old Norse or a Germanic root for a teat.
Examples
The dog dug a deep hole in the garden.
The farmer checked the sow's dug to ensure the piglets were feeding properly.
They had dug for hours before finally finding the buried treasure.