The word is found in Old English, but it's not of Germanic origin, in fact no origin is known. Where "dog" occurs in other languages it's borrowed from English, describing types or breeds of dog, in the same way we have dachshund or Irish wolfhound.
Of course we also retain the Germanic word "hound" which is used in some contexts, but most of the time a dog is a dog is a dog.
There are several words from Old English that
End in "G"
Have unexplained origins
Refer to animals
Think of "frog", "hog", "pig", and "earwig".
As an aside, "hound" is from the same origins as Ancient Greek "kynos", and Latin "canis". And "kynos" is where Diogenes and the "dog philosophers", the Cynics, took their name from.
The mysterious origins of the word "dog"
The word is found in Old English, but it's not of Germanic origin, in fact no origin is known. Where "dog" occurs in other languages it's borrowed from English, describing types or breeds of dog, in the same way we have dachshund or Irish wolfhound.
Of course we also retain the Germanic word "hound" which is used in some contexts, but most of the time a dog is a dog is a dog.
There are several words from Old English that
Think of "frog", "hog", "pig", and "earwig".
As an aside, "hound" is from the same origins as Ancient Greek "kynos", and Latin "canis". And "kynos" is where Diogenes and the "dog philosophers", the Cynics, took their name from.