Learn English – Which of these meanings for the word “pet” came first

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The word "pet" has a few different definitions (my own paraphrase):

  • n: An animal kept for companionship.
  • v: To affectionately caress.

My question is, which of these usages originated first? Do we refer to companion animals as "pets" because we pet them? Or is the act of "petting" so dubbed because it is what we do to pets?

Best Answer

Etymonline to the rescue:

"tamed animal," originally in Scottish and northern England dialect (and exclusively so until mid-18c.), of unknown origin. Sense of "indulged child" (c.1500) is recorded slightly earlier than that of "animal kept as a favorite" (1530s), but the latter may be the primary meaning. [...] The verb is 1620s meaning "treat as a pet;" the sense of "to stroke" is first found 1818.

So the noun came first.

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