tiger
English
editAlternative forms
editEtymology 1
editFrom Middle English tygre, in part from Old English tigras (pl.), in part from Anglo-Norman tigre, both from Latin tigris, from Ancient Greek τίγρις (tígris), from Iranian (compare Avestan 𐬙𐬌𐬔𐬭𐬌 (tigri, “arrow”), 𐬙𐬌𐬖𐬭𐬀 (tiγra, “pointed”)). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to pierce, prick, be sharp”). Compare English stick.
Pronunciation
edit- (General American) enPR: tī'gər, IPA(key): /ˈtaɪɡɚ/
- (Canada, Inland Northern American, New England, some speakers) IPA(key): [ˈtʌɪɡɚ]
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈtaɪɡə/
Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -aɪɡə(ɹ)
- Homophone: taiga (non-rhotic)
Noun
edittiger (plural tigers, feminine tigress)
- Panthera tigris, a large predatory mammal of the cat family, indigenous to Asia.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 14, page 311:
- For with ſuch puiſſance and impetuous maine / Thoſe Champions broke on them, that forſt the fly, / Like ſcattered Sheepe, whenas the Shepherds ſwaine / A Lyon and a Tigre doth eſpye, / With greedy pace forth ruſhing from the foreſt nye.
- (heraldry) A representation of a large mythological cat, used on a coat of arms.
- 1968, Charles MacKinnon of Dunakin, The Observer's Book of Heraldry, page 69:
- The heraldic tiger is a mythical beast, quite unlike a real tiger which is described in heraldry as a Bengal tiger. The ordinary tiger has no stripes, has a horn protruding from its nose, has tusks like a boar and a tufted mane, and has a lion's tail instead of a tiger's.
- (South Africa, dated but still used) A leopard.
- 1907, Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, Jock of the Bushveld, Longmans, published 1976, →ISBN, page 251:
- Jim remarked irrelevantly that tigers were 'schelms' and it was his conviction that there were a great many in the kloofs round about.
- A relatively small country or group of countries with a fast-growing economy.
- 2000, Jagdish Handa, Monetary Economics, Psychology Press, →ISBN, page 709:
- In this scenario, the growth rates are higher for the economic tigers than for the other economies.
- 2009, Fabrizio Tassinari, Why Europe Fears Its Neighbors, ABC-CLIO, →ISBN, page 21:
- Then came the 2008 credit turmoil and ensuing economic slump, which not only belittled the huge economic and social gains of the various Baltic and Celtic Tigers, as well as of several former communist nations of Central Europe.
- 2014, Emmanuel Akyeampong, Robert H. Bates, Nathan Nunn, James Robinson, Africa's Development in Historical Perspective, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 287:
- Once colonial or settler rule ended, such enterprises either lost the crutches of state support or became “white elephants,” draining resources from the wider economy. This was an important factor holding back the emergence of African tigers.
- (obsolete) A servant in livery, who rides with his master or mistress.
- 1836, “Boz” [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], Sketches by “Boz,” Illustrative of Every-day Life, and Every-day People. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Macrone, […], →OCLC:
- We arranged that I should come here alone in the London coach; and that he, leaving his tiger and cab behind him, should come on , and arrive here as soon as possible this afternoon
- 1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, “ch. XVII, The Beginnings”, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, →OCLC, book II (The Ancient Monk):
- The doom of Fate was, Be thou a Dandy! Have thy eye-glasses, opera-glasses, thy Long-Acre cabs with white-breeched tiger, thy yawning impassivities, pococurantisms; fix thyself in Dandyhood, undeliverable; it is thy doom.
- (US, slang) A person who is very athletic during sexual intercourse.
- 2010, Jeff Wilser, The Maxims of Manhood:
- Don't […] Tell your roommate that you heard the walls shaking all night, and it sounds like he's a real tiger in the sack.
- (figurative) A ferocious, bloodthirsty and audacious person.
- c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
- As for that heinous tiger, Tamora,
No funeral rite, nor man in mournful weeds,
No mournful bell shall ring her burial;
But throw her forth to beasts, and birds of prey.
- A pneumatic box or pan used in refining sugar.
- A tiger moth in the family Arctiidae.
- A tiger beetle.
- Any of the three Australian species of black-and-yellow striped dragonflies of the genus Ictinogomphus.
- A tiger butterfly in tribe Danaini, especially subtribe Danaina
Usage notes
editIn heraldry, many writers use spellings such as tyger or tygre to distinguish the mythological beast from the natural tiger (also blazoned Bengal tiger), which also occurs in heraldry.
Derived terms
edit- American tiger
- Amur tiger
- Asian Tiger
- Australian tiger
- Bali tiger
- Bengal tiger
- blind tiger
- buck the tiger
- Caspian tiger
- double-nosed Andean tiger hound
- fight the tiger
- have a tiger by the tail
- have the tiger by the tail
- hot tiger
- Hualapai tiger
- Hyrcanian tiger
- Javan tiger
- lady or tiger
- liger
- man-tiger
- Mexican tiger
- native tiger
- paper tiger
- park a tiger
- Queensland tiger
- red tiger
- ride the tiger
- ruby tiger
- saber-toothed tiger
- sabertooth tiger
- sabre-toothed tiger
- scarlet tiger
- she-tiger
- Siberian tiger
- Sumatran tiger
- swamp tiger
- Tasmanian tiger
- tiger balm
- tiger barb
- tiger beetle
- tiger bench
- tiger blood
- tiger bread
- tiger cage
- tiger cat
- tiger chair
- tiger civet
- tiger country
- tiger economy
- tigereye
- tiger flower
- tiger-foot
- tiger goby
- tiger grass
- tiger heron
- tiger in one's tank
- tigerish
- tiger juice
- tiger kidnap
- tigerlike
- tiger-lily
- tiger lily
- tigerly
- tiger meat
- tiger mom
- tiger mosquito
- tiger moth
- tiger mother
- tiger mum
- tiger nut
- tiger-nut
- tiger of a different stripe
- tiger paw
- tiger pear
- tiger pit
- tiger prawn
- tiger quoll
- tiger salamander
- tiger sauce
- tiger's claw
- tiger's eye
- tiger shark
- tiger's milk
- tiger snake
- tiger snout seahorse
- tiger stripe
- tiger stripes
- tiger swallowtail
- tiger sweat
- tiger tail
- tiger tail seahorse
- tiger team
- tiger tiger
- tiger toast
- tiger wolf
- tiger wood
- tigon
- tigress
- Turan tiger
- weretiger
- white tiger
Related terms
editDescendants
editTranslations
edit
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References
edit“tiger”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
Etymology 2
editFrom the mascot of Princeton (a tiger), which led to early cheerleaders calling out "Tiger" at the end of a cheer for the Princeton team.
Noun
edittiger (plural tigers)
- A final shouted phrase, accompanied by a jump or outstretched arms, at the end of a cheer.
- 1868, Punch: Or the London Charivari - Volume 55, page 231:
- He spoke with a very strong Scotch accent, and is by no means a graceful orator, but he produced througout a most favourable impression upon all his hearers, and especially upon the students, one of whom shouted as the speaker closed, 'Long Live PRESIDENT M'COSH!' and then proposed three cheers, which were given with a will, followed by the usual tiger and ' rocket.'
- 1941, Margaret Leech, Reveille in Washington:
- . . . every blue coat in the audience sprang to his feet, with three times three and a tiger.
- 2008, D. C. Beard, The Outdoor Handy Book: For Playground, Field, and Forest, page 413:
- One Brooklyn military company has a “tiger” composed of a provincial expression borrowed from the farmers. When drawled out by a hundred throats the phrase "I-wanter-know!" always produces a laugh.
Anagrams
editCornish
editEtymology
editPronunciation
editNoun
editDanish
editEtymology
editFrom German Tiger, from Latin tigris.
Pronunciation
editNoun
edittiger c (singular definite tigeren, plural indefinite tigere or tigre)
Declension
editDerived terms
editReferences
edit- “tiger” in Den Danske Ordbog
Middle Dutch
editEtymology
editBorrowed from Old French tigre, from Latin tigris.
Noun
edittiger m
Inflection
editThis noun needs an inflection-table template.
Descendants
editFurther reading
edit- “tiger”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
- Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “tiger”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN
Middle English
editNoun
edittiger
- Alternative form of tygre
Norwegian Bokmål
editEtymology
editNoun
edittiger m (definite singular tigeren, indefinite plural tigere or tigre or tigrer, definite plural tigerne or tigrene)
- a tiger (Panthera tigris)
Derived terms
editReferences
edit- “tiger” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
editEtymology
editNoun
edittiger m (definite singular tigeren, indefinite plural tigrar, definite plural tigrane)
- a tiger (Panthera tigris)
Derived terms
editReferences
edit- “tiger” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Old English
editEtymology
editFrom Proto-West Germanic *tīgr (“tiger”).
Pronunciation
editNoun
edittiger m (nominative plural tigras)
Declension
editDerived terms
editDescendants
editSlovene
editEtymology
editUltimately from Ancient Greek τίγρις (tígris), from Iranian (compare Avestan 𐬙𐬌𐬔𐬭𐬌 (tigri, “arrow”), 𐬙𐬌𐬖𐬭𐬀 (tiγra, “pointed”)).
Pronunciation
editNoun
edittígər m anim (female equivalent tīgrica)
Inflection
editMasculine anim., hard o-stem | |||
---|---|---|---|
nom. sing. | tíger | ||
gen. sing. | tígra | ||
singular | dual | plural | |
nominative (imenovȃlnik) |
tíger | tígra | tígri |
genitive (rodȋlnik) |
tígra | tígrov | tígrov |
dative (dajȃlnik) |
tígru | tígroma | tígrom |
accusative (tožȋlnik) |
tígra | tígra | tígre |
locative (mẹ̑stnik) |
tígru | tígrih | tígrih |
instrumental (orọ̑dnik) |
tígrom | tígroma | tígri |
Derived terms
editFurther reading
edit- “tiger”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
Swedish
editPronunciation
editNoun
edittiger c
- tiger (animal)
- Tigrar har ränder
- Tigers have stripes
- Det är lätt att blanda ihop lejon och tigrar
- It's easy to mix up lions and tigers
- 1995, Charta 77 (lyrics and music), “Lilla björn och lilla tiger [Little bear and little tiger]”, in Tecken i tiden [Sign of the times][1]:
- En björn och en tiger mot drömmarnas land, där solen som stiger alltid är varm. Tillsammans på stigen som leder dom fram.
- A bear and a tiger towards the land of dreams, where the sun that rises ["the rising sun" is "den uppgående solen" instead] is always warm. Together on the path that leads them forward.
Declension
editDeclension of tiger | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | tiger | tigern | tigrar | tigrarna |
Genitive | tigers | tigerns | tigrars | tigrarnas |
See also
editVerb
edittiger
References
editWest Frisian
editEtymology
edit(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Noun
edittiger c (plural tigers, diminutive tigerke)
Further reading
edit- “tiger”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms derived from Anglo-Norman
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English terms derived from Iranian languages
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/aɪɡə(ɹ)
- Rhymes:English/aɪɡə(ɹ)/2 syllables
- English terms with homophones
- English nouns
- English lemmas
- English terms with quotations
- en:Heraldic charges
- South African English
- English dated terms
- English terms with obsolete senses
- American English
- English slang
- English countable nouns
- English autohyponyms
- English terms of address
- en:Dragonflies and damselflies
- en:Noctuoid moths
- en:Panthers
- en:People
- en:Danaine butterflies
- Cornish terms derived from Middle English
- Cornish terms derived from Old English
- Cornish terms derived from Latin
- Cornish terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Cornish terms derived from English
- Cornish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Cornish lemmas
- Cornish nouns
- Cornish masculine nouns
- kw:Felids
- Danish terms derived from German
- Danish terms derived from Latin
- Danish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Danish terms with homophones
- Danish lemmas
- Danish nouns
- Danish common-gender nouns
- da:Felids
- Middle Dutch terms borrowed from Old French
- Middle Dutch terms derived from Old French
- Middle Dutch terms derived from Latin
- Middle Dutch lemmas
- Middle Dutch nouns
- Middle Dutch masculine nouns
- dum:Felids
- Middle English nouns
- Middle English lemmas
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Latin
- Norwegian Bokmål lemmas
- Norwegian Bokmål nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål masculine nouns
- nb:Felids
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from Latin
- Norwegian Nynorsk lemmas
- Norwegian Nynorsk nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk masculine nouns
- nn:Felids
- Old English terms derived from Latin
- Old English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Old English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- Old English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- Old English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Old English lemmas
- Old English nouns
- Old English masculine nouns
- Old English masculine a-stem nouns
- ang:Felids
- Slovene terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Slovene terms derived from Iranian languages
- Slovene 2-syllable words
- Slovene terms with IPA pronunciation
- Slovene lemmas
- Slovene nouns
- Slovene masculine animate nouns
- Slovene masculine nouns
- Slovene animate nouns
- Slovene masculine hard o-stem nouns
- sl:Felids
- Swedish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Swedish terms with audio links
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish nouns
- Swedish common-gender nouns
- Swedish terms with usage examples
- Swedish terms with quotations
- Swedish verb forms
- Swedish non-lemma forms
- sv:Panthers
- West Frisian lemmas
- West Frisian nouns
- West Frisian common-gender nouns
- fy:Panthers