*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of squab

Unknown. Possibly related to dialectal Swedish skvabb (“fatty, flabby”). First attested in the 17th century.

1 source sectionBrief source recordWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
noun

A young dove or pigeon. · A young chicken. · A young rook. · The meat of a young dove or pigeon, typically under four weeks old, used as food.

verb

To fall plump; to strike at one dash, or with a heavy stroke. · To furnish with squabs, or cushions. · To stuff thickly and sew through, the stitches being concealed by buttons, etc.

adj

Fat; thick; plump; bulky. · Unfledged; unfeathered. · Clumsy. · Curt; abrupt.

adv

With a heavy fall; plump.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Unknown. Possibly related to dialectal Swedish skvabb (“fatty, flabby”). First attested in the 17th century.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Unspecified derivation mentionskvabbsv

This page abbreviates 3 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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      "expansion": "Unknown"
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "sv",
        "3": "skvabb",
        "4": "",
        "5": "fatty, flabby"
      },
      "expansion": "Swedish skvabb (“fatty, flabby”)"
    },
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      },
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  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
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      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A young dove or pigeon.",
        "A young chicken.",
        "A young rook.",
        "The meat of a young dove or pigeon, typically under four weeks old, used as food."
      ],
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      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To fall plump; to strike at one dash, or with a heavy stroke.",
        "To furnish with squabs, or cushions.",
        "To stuff thickly and sew through, the stitches being concealed by buttons, etc."
      ],
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      "pos": "adj",
      "glosses": [
        "Fat; thick; plump; bulky.",
        "Unfledged; unfeathered.",
        "Clumsy.",
        "Curt; abrupt."
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      "pos": "adv",
      "glosses": [
        "With a heavy fall; plump."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable",
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}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for squab →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-c3F1YWI