entry
urchin
/ˈɝtʃən/A mischievous child or spiny marine animal
From Latin ērīci- (hedgehog).
from Latin ērīcius. Compare modern French hérisson, whence the English doublet herisson.
from Vulgar Latin *ērīciōnem
from Middle English yrchoun, irchoun (“hedgehog; sea urchin”)
Word Ancestry
from Latin ērīcius. Compare modern French hérisson, whence the English doublet herisson.
from Vulgar Latin *ērīciōnem
from Middle English yrchoun, irchoun (“hedgehog; sea urchin”)
Picture a hedgehog: tiny, dark-eyed, and bristling with defensive spikes. That prickly creature supplied Latin ērīcius, which passed through Vulgar Latin and Old Northern French before appearing in Middle English as yrchoun around the medieval period. English then used the same word for the sea urchin, whose shell looks like a miniature armored hedgehog stranded on the seafloor. By the late sixteenth century, “urchin” had also become a nickname for a small, ragged, or mischievous child—apparently because children could be just as troublesome and spiky in temperament. French hérisson and Italian riccio are linguistic cousins, so the word’s family portrait contains both street children and sea-floor pincushions: different creatures, same defensive silhouette.
The Story
Picture a hedgehog: tiny, dark-eyed, and bristling with defensive spikes. That prickly creature supplied Latin ērīcius, which passed through Vulgar Latin and Old Northern French before appearing in Middle English as yrchoun around the medieval period. English then used the same word for the sea urchin, whose shell looks like a miniature armored hedgehog stranded on the seafloor. By the late sixteenth century, “urchin” had also become a nickname for a small, ragged, or mischievous child—apparently because children could be just as troublesome and spiky in temperament. French hérisson and Italian riccio are linguistic cousins, so the word’s family portrait contains both street children and sea-floor pincushions: different creatures, same defensive silhouette.
Modern Usage
A homeless street-dweller or an intensely annoying person, in informal usage.
Kin & Kindred
From 'ērīci-'·hedgehog; spiny creature
Cognates
Related words in other languages
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary
Wiktionary