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English
[edit]English Wikipedia has an article on:pigtailWikipedia A young girl with unbraided pigtails.
Alternative forms
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pig-tail
Etymology
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From pig + tail.
Pronunciation
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(UK, US) IPA(key): /ˈpɪɡ.teɪl/
Audio (Southern England):
(file)
Noun
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pigtail (plural pigtails)
(literally) The tail of a pig.
Tobacco twisted into a string or roll. [from 17th c.]
1828, JT Smith, Nollekens and His Times, Century Hutchinson, published 1986, page 265:One person […] continued constantly to ply him with the very best pig-tail tobacco, which he had most carefully cut in very small pieces purposely for him.
A braided plait of hair; queue. [from 18th c.]
1861 May 1, “Volunteer Uniforms”, in The New York Times[1], volume X, number 3000, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 9 September 2025, page 4, column 5:Let padded breasts, high coat collars, stiff stocks, broad-shouldered straps, tight belts, trowser-straps and boots be consigned to the tomb of pigtails and powder.
1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, “Speculations”, in She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC, page 123:Such a filthy spectacle as we presented I have never seen before or since, and it will perhaps give some idea of the almost superhuman dignity of Billali's appearance when I say that, coughing, half-drowned, and covered with mud and green slime as he was, with his beautiful beard coming to a dripping point, like a Chinaman's freshly-oiled pigtail, he still looked venerable and imposing.
(now especially) Either of a pair of braids or tails worn on the sides of the head.
2000, Bill Oddie, Gripping Yarns, page 12:[I]t was something that every schoolboy of my generation almost `had' to do, as obligatory a proof of impending manliness as scrumping apples or pulling girls' pigtails.
(in the plural) A hairstyle with a pair of pigtails.
(colloquial, in the plural) A person who wears pigtails. [from 1911]
[2021 October 26, Peter Baker, “The Case Against Winston Churchill”, in The New York Times[2], →ISSN:[…] Chinese, whom he called “pigtails”; or Indians, whom he dismissed as “baboos.”]
(electrical engineering) A short length of twisted electrical wire. [from 20th c.]Synonym:tail
The flamingo flower (anthurium)
(medicine) Twisted stent terminal; stent-end, usually but not necessarily a different fastened part.
Derived terms
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pigtailed
pigtail macaque
Translations
[edit] braided plait of hair
Arabic: Egyptian Arabic: توكتينf pl(tuktén)
Bashkir: толом(tolom)
Bulgarian: плиткаf(plitka)
Chinese: Mandarin: 辮子 / 辫子 (zh)(biànzi)
Danish: fletning (da)c
Finnish: letti (fi)
French: tresse (fr)f, natte (fr)f
Galician: cercetaf, cogoteiraf
German: Zopf (de)m
Hebrew: צַמָּה (he)f(tzamá)
Hungarian: copf (hu)
Italian: codino (it)m
Japanese: 御下げ(おさげ, osage), 御下げ髪(おさげがみ, osagegami), ピグテール(pigutēru)(tied over the shoulder); ツインテール (ja)(tsuintēru)(tied at each side of the head)
Korean: 트윈테일(teuwinteil)(tied at each side of the head), 피그테일(pigeuteil)(tied over the shoulder)
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