Tigging
/ˈtɪɡɪŋ/noun
The act of touching or chasing someone in the children’s game known as tig, especially in British and Scottish English.
Did you know?Tig is a regional British and Scottish name for the game more commonly called tag, but its deeper origin is uncertain; scholars generally treat it as a dialectal variant related to tag or touch-words.
Etymological Timeline
Middle English period
English
tag / tek
“Related forms denoting a touch, point, or act of lightly striking are recorded in the broader history of English dialect vocabulary; the precise ancestor of tig remains uncertain.”
17th–18th Century
Scots/English
tig
“A dialectal verb meaning to touch, tap, or chase in a children’s game.”
18th–19th Century
British English
tig
“A regional name for the game in which one player pursues others and transfers pursuit by touching them.”
Modern English
English
tigging
“The -ing form of tig: playing the chasing-and-touching game, or the act of pursuing someone within it.”