*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of wug

] Coined ex nihilo by American psycholinguist Jean Berko Gleason in the 1950s as a word that children taking the test would not have heard before.

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 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.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
noun

An imaginary creature resembling a bird, used in the Wug Test to investigate the acquisition of the plural form in English-speaking children.

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

] Coined ex nihilo by American psycholinguist Jean Berko Gleason in the 1950s as a word that children taking the test would not have heard before.

Inspect preserved source fields

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

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  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "wp",
      "args": {
        "1": "Wug Test"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "etymid",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "imaginary creature"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "coin",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "Q3350253",
        "in": "in the 1950s",
        "exnihilo": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Coined ex nihilo by American psycholinguist Jean Berko Gleason in the 1950s"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "ex nihilo",
      "ex nihilo"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "An imaginary creature resembling a bird, used in the Wug Test to investigate the acquisition of the plural form in English-speaking children."
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Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
noun

In folk taxonomy, a creature with worm or insect features; colloquially, a bug or creepy-crawly.

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

Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *wurmiz Proto-West Germanic *wurmi Old English wyrm Middle English worm English worm English bug English wug From worm + bug.

Inspect preserved source fields

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

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    {
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      "args": {
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        "2": ":af",
        "3": "worm",
        "4": "bug",
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        "text": "+",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Germanic *wurmiz\nProto-West Germanic *wurmi\nOld English wyrm\nMiddle English worm\nEnglish worm\nEnglish bug\nEnglish wug\n[Appendix:Glossary#inherited|Inherited]] from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*wurmi\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"wyrm\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"worm\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"worm\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }, { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"bug\", \"status\" : \"missing\", \"lang\" : \"en\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"wug\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-id=\"worm bug\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"wug\" id=\"English:_worm_bug\">\nFrom worm + bug."
    },
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    ],
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        "In folk taxonomy, a creature with worm or insect features; colloquially, a bug or creepy-crawly."
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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 wug →

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-d3Vn