twig

CEFRB2

/twɪɡ/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A small thin branch growing from a tree or bush.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    Somebody, or one of their body parts, not looking developed.

Examples

  • He cut a twig from the tree with his knife.

  • The bird picked up the twig with its beak and flew to its nest.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • [tʰw̥ɪɡ]

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. To beat with twigs.

  2. A small thin branch of a tree or bush.

verb

Extra meaning

  1. To understand the meaning of (a person); to comprehend.

More examples

In context

  • He hasn't twigged that we're planning a surprise party for him.

  • They used twigs and leaves as a base to start the fire.

  • Do you twig me?

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The bird landed on a thin blank and it bent under its weight.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

PIE word *dwóh₁ Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *twīgą Proto-West Germanic *twīg Old English twiġ Middle English twig English twig From Middle English twig, twyg, twigge, twygge, from Old English twigg, twicg, from Proto-West Germanic *twiggu (“small twig, shoot”), apparently a diminutive of Proto-West Germanic *twig (“branch, twig”) (whence also Old English twiġ and twiġa), from Proto-Germanic *twīgą, from Proto-Indo-European *dweygʰom, from *dwóh₁. More at two. Cognates Cognate with North Frisian twiich, twiig (“twig”), Saterland Frisian Twiech (“branch, twig”), West Frisian twiich (“twig”), Dutch twijg (“twig”), German Zweig (“branch, twig; section”), German Low German Twieg (“branch, twig...