piggyback
UK[ˈpɪɡ.i.bæk]US[ˈpɪɡ.i.bæk]
adv
On the back and shoulders of another person.
adj
Carried on the back and shoulders.
v
To carry someone on the back and shoulders.
v
To use something that already exists, such as a system or a success, in order to achieve an advantage or make further progress.
Morpheme Breakdown
pig
y
back
pig
y
back
Etymology
The word 'piggyback' is a folk etymology alteration of the 16th-century phrase 'a pick pack', likely from 'pick' meaning 'pitch' (as in to throw) or related to the verb 'to pick'. The original sense was 'a pitch on the back'. By the late 18th century, the association with the animal 'pig' transformed the phrase to 'piggyback', influenced by the image of carrying a sack or a child like one might carry a pig. This reanalysis cemented the modern spelling and the literal meaning of riding on someone's back. The figurative business sense, meaning to leverage an existing resource, developed in the mid-20th century, extending the core idea of being carried by something else.
Analysis
Structure: pig + y + back
pig: Origin: Middle English, of unknown origin. Functional role: The base noun, referring to the animal.
y: Origin: Middle English, a suffix forming adjectives. Functional role: A diminutive or adjectival suffix.
back: Origin: Old English 'bæc'. Functional role: The noun referring to the rear part of the human body.
Examples
The tired child asked his father for a piggyback ride home from the park.
The new software feature was designed to piggyback on the existing network infrastructure.
She won the competition piggybacking on her team's earlier innovative research.