hedgehog

/ˈhɛd͡ʒ.hɒɡ/

/ˈhɛd͡ʒ.hɔɡ/

From Middle English heyghoge; equivalent to hedge + hog. Eclipsed non-native Middle English yrchoun, irchoun (“hedgehog”), from Old French hirchoun, herichon (“hedgehog”); and Middle English il, from Old English īl, iġil (“hedgehog”).
In the philosophical sense, from the 1953 essay The Hedgehog and the Fox by Isaiah Berlin.

[L]ike Hedg-hogs vvhich / Lye tumbling in my bare-foote vvay, and mount / Their pricks at my foot-fall: ſometime am I / All vvound vvith Adders, vvho vvith clouen tongues / Doe hiſſe me into madneſſe: […]

1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii], page 9, column 1:

A small mammal, of the subfamily Erinaceinae, characterized by their spiny back and often by the habit of rolling up into a ball when attacked.

Ukrainian civilians have been DIY-ing hedgehogs, welding two bars or beams at an angle to make a cross and then adding a third to ensure it holds its shape even if it's knocked over.

2022 March 21, Bill Chappell, “SWIFT, hedgehog, MiG: Here's a guide to the terms of war in Ukraine”, in SPECIAL SERIES: Ukraine invasion — explained, NPR, retrieved 2022-03-21:

(military) Ellipsis of Czech hedgehog (“an antitank obstacle constructed from three steel rails”).

Czech hedgehog

(informal, military, historical) A spigot mortar-type of depth charge weapon from World War II that simultaneously fires a number of explosives into the water to create a pattern of underwater explosions intended to attack submerged submarines.

differential geometry
differential geometry

(differential geometry) A type of plane curve; see Hedgehog (geometry).


urchin

urchins (plural)
urchon (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English yrchoun, irchoun (“hedgehog; sea urchin”), from Old Northern French irechon, from Vulgar Latin *ērīciōnem, from Latin ericius. Compare modern French hérisson, whence the English doublet herisson.

(historical) A neutron-generating device that triggered the nuclear detonation of the earliest plutonium atomic bombs.


erinaceous

en-adj

erinaceous (comparative more erinaceous, superlative most erinaceous)

more erinaceous (comparative)
most erinaceous (superlative)

/ˌɛ.ɹɪˈneɪ.ʃəs/

/ˌɛ.ɹəˈneɪ.ʃəs/

Of, pertaining to, or resembling a hedgehog.


hurcheon

A variant of urchin, from Middle English hirchoun (“hedgehog”), from Old French heriçon (“hedgehog”). Compare Scots hurcheon.


moonrat

moonrats (plural)
moon rat (alternative)

From moon + rat, a calque of Malay tikus balan (tikus (“rat”) + bulan (“moon”)).

Incidental observations on moonrats Echinosorex gymnurus in Malaysia suggests that this species is uncommon everywhere but does occur in low numbers in logged^((1-12:51)) forest in peninsular Malaysia (Johns 1989a).

1997, Andrew Grieser Johns, Timber Production and Biodiversity Conservation in Tropical Rain Forests, page 87:

The smell of rotting onions, stale sweat, or ammonia may indicate the presence of a moonrat, which produces a strong scent from two glands near the anus. The animal uses this powerful odor to mark its territory. A solitary creature, the moonrat will emit hiss-puffs and low roars if it encounters another member of its species.

2004, Fred Cooke, The Encyclopedia of Animals: A Complete Visual Guide, page 86:

Moonrats are a lowland forest species which feed primarily on worms and arthropods.

2005, E. Meijaard, editor, Life After Logging, page 82:

A gymnure, especially the greater gymnure, Echinosorex gymnura.


gymnure

From New Latin Gymnura, former genus name, from Ancient Greek γυμνός (gumnós, “naked”) + οὐρά (ourá, “tail”).

Unlike hedgehogs, all gymnures produce a strong ammoniac smell reminiscent of rotten garlic, the better to establish territories and to deter enemies when frightened.

2022, Thomas Halliday, Otherworlds, Penguin, published 2023, page 50:

A carnivorous mammal, subfamily Galericinae, related to the hedgehogs and resembling a large rat, which inhabits various parts of south-east Asia.


furze-pig

furze-pigs (plural)
furze pig (alternative)
fuzz-pig (alternative)
fuzz pig (alternative)
vuz-peg (alternative)

Wherever there be a gate, or even an apology for one, consisting of a gapway jammed full of a combination of what are mostly called brambles, the near neighbourhood of the same where it opens, or should open, on the field, is always a good place, and one that may well be taken advantage of, more especially if the furze-pig be the bait employed; while a nest of eggs neatly arranged on the top of an adjacent portion of the hedgerow, devoid of bushes, is equally likely to bring the crows into the gins set about for them.

1884, William Carnegie, “Winged Vermin”, in Practical Game Preserving, page 457:

For mowdewart and marmot; for furze-pig / and parmaceti; for feline / and anserine; for Lawrence the tod.

1982, Sheenagh Pugh, “I think someone might write an elegy”, in Poetry Wales, volume 17, number 4, archived from the original on 2015-10-31:

It's not only writers who require creative accounts or an ability to connect discordant events, but most of the rest of everyone else, too, wants to sort fiends into parsimonious piles. In view of those desires, Can I be Rare, Toos sixty-four tales are one part canard, one part forced teleology, and several parts enthusiastic furze-pig'. They are, also, one hundred per cent fun.

2017, KJ Hannah Greenberg, “Preface”, in Can I Be Rare, Too?, Bards and Sages Publishing:


hedgepig

Thrice, and once the hedge-pig whined.

a. 1606, William Shakespeare, Macbeth, act 4, scene 1, line 2:

That sheeted heifer of Prowse’s is all wrong; her coat stares like a hedgepig's. Tell Jewell to go up and bring her in before night.

1855, Charles Kingsley, “Clovelly Court in the Olden Time”, in Westward Ho!, 4th edition, Boston: Ticknor and Fields, published 1857, page 91:


hedgie

Despite the best, or worst, efforts of those overextended hedgies and subprime-sters, it did, but not as high as hems, and it yo-yoed squeamishly along the way.

2009 March 3, Alice Rawsthorn, “Power Play”, in New York Times:

Most hedgies currently lack conviction. Incidentally, that's a good sign, not an ill omen.

2020, Barton Biggs, Diary of a Hedgehog: Biggs' Final Words on the Markets, page 28:

(finance, informal) A hedge fund trader.


thornhog

From Middle English thornhog, equivalent to thorn + hog.


hodmandod

hodmandods (plural)
hodmadod (alternative)
hodmedod (alternative)
hodneydod (alternative)

(Norfolk, dialectal, obsolete) A hedgehog.


hoglet

At birth, newborn hoglets are pink, blind, and completely helpless.

In nature, hoglets that age would follow their mother out of the nest and learn from her how to procure food by digging in the ground.

2018, Massimo Vacchetta, Antonella Tomaselli, A Handful of Happiness: How a Prickly Creature Softened a Prickly Heart, unnumbered page:

If the hog parents develop the disease, you can be pretty sure the hoglets will too—even when they’re raised in different places, fed different diets, cared for by different owners.

2021 August 12, Noelle Mateer, “Looks That Quill: The Dark Side of Hedgehog Instagram”, in Wired:


bulau

The bulau, of Sumatra, has a few stout bristly hairs scattered among the fur of its back, and gives the first indication of a tendency toward the production of spines.

1884, Popular Science, volume 26, number 19, page 428:

(archaic) An East Indian insectivorous mammal (Echinosorex gymnura), somewhat like a rat in appearance, but allied to the hedgehog.


erinaceid

(zoology) Any mammal in the family Erinaceidae, the hedgehogs, gymnures and moonrats.


European hedgehog

en-noun

European hedgehog (plural European hedgehogs)

Erinaceus europaeus
Erinaceus europaeus#Translingual

Erinaceus europaeus, the hedgehog that inhabits much of Western and Central Europe.


hedgy-boar

hedgy-boars (plural)
hedgyboar (alternative)

Aw loar! the owld gipsies what do live 'pon hedgyboors and that soort of mait, was more betterer off then we wor was regaard to livin'.

c. 1860, John Tabois Tregellas, “California”, in Cornish Tales, page 67:

He sought where grew, in aspect lew, / The skedgwith and the scow, / And he routed the sleepy hedgy-boar, / And the lively padgypaow.

1895, Joseph Thomas, “The Quest of the Gwidgy-gwee”, in Randigal Rhymes, page 15:

Billy was a forthy fellow, prickly as a hedgyboar.

2011, Amitav Ghosh, River of Smoke (Ibis Trilogy; 2):

(Devon and Cornwall, now rare) A hedgehog.