пижек

Bulgarian

Etymology

Of dubious origin. Main hypotheses (per BER) include:

• A dialectal variant of Bulgarian плу́жек (plúžek, “slug”) → *плюжек → пюжек, пижек.
• From Proto-Slavic *pyžь (“little, tiny”), whence dialectal пи́жо (pížo, “unbaptized kid”) +‎ -ек (-ek), Russian пы́жик (pýžik, “fawn”).
• From an unattested Proto-Slavic *pižati, whence dialectal Bulgarian пижа́йца (pižájca), пижа́вица (pižávica, “leech”).

Compare also Lithuanian pigùs (“low, cheap”), Latin piguus (“indolent”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈpiʒɛk]

Noun

пи́жек • (pížek) m

1. (dialectal) snail

   Synonyms: о́хлюв (óhljuv), (dialectal) пасо́к (pasók), (dialectal) лига́вец (ligávec), (dialectal) рогле́ц (rogléc)

Declension

Declension of пи́жек

	singular	plural
indefinite	пи́жек pížek	пи́жеци pížeci
definite (subject form)	пи́жекът pížekǎt	пи́жеците pížecite
definite (object form)	пи́жека pížeka
count form	—	пи́жека pížeka

Alternative forms

• пижо́к (pižók), пижа́к (pižák) — dialectal
• пи́жаль (pížalʹ), пи́жел (pížel) — dialectal

Related terms

• пиже́няк (pižénjak, “large snail”) (dialectal)

References

• “пижек”, in Речник на българския език [Dictionary of the Bulgarian Language] (in Bulgarian), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2014
• Duridanov, I. V., Racheva, M., Todorov, T. A., editors (1996), “пижаль, пижек”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 5 (падѐж – пỳска), Sofia: Prof. Marin Drinov Pubg. House, →ISBN, page 229
• Nayden Gerov, Тодор Панчев (1901) “пижёнякъ, пи́жекъ, пижёкъ”, in Рѣчникъ на Блъгарскꙑй язꙑкъ. Съ тлъкувание рѣчи-тꙑ на Блъгарскꙑ и на Русскꙑ. [Dictionary of the Bulgarian language]‎^[1] (in Bulgarian), volume 4, Plovdiv: Дружествена печꙗтница "Съгласие.", page 30