Dachshund
/ˈdɑːkshʊnt/noun
A small short-legged breed of dog with a long body, originally bred for hunting badgers.
Did you know?Dachshund comes from German Dachs (“badger”) + Hund (“dog”), and the breed was named for a very specific job: driving badgers out of their burrows.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*hundaz
“dog”
Old High German
OHG
hunt
“dog”
Old High German
OHG
dahs
“badger”
Early Modern German
German
Dachs + Hund
“badger + dog”
19th Century
German
Dachshund
“a badger-hunting dog breed”
19th Century
English
dachshund
“the breed name borrowed into English”