Since 1992
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By Barbara McAllister
Word of the Day: Urchin
The word urchin is primarily used to refer to a young child, usually homeless, dirty and poorly dressed. Ragamuffin is another term used interchangeably. One of the most famous literary urchins is Oliver Twist, created by Charles Dickens. Nineteenth century London seems to have been teeming with street urchins. Sherlock Holmes relied on his group of street urchins, the Baker Street Irregulars, to run errands and track down information for him.
Curiously enough, the word urchin comes from a 13th century French word for hedgehog. Parts of England today still colloquially call hedgehogs “urchins.” The French word is derived originally from a Greek root meaning “to bristle,” so it’s clear why hedgehogs were called urchins. It’s also an easy leap to see why sea anemones are called sea urchins. Their spiny appearance makes them the hedgehogs of the sea. It’s less clear how urchins became a word for street waifs, but it appears to have been around in the mid-1700s in Victorian England. It may be that since hedgehogs are nocturnal, urchin became a slang term for a homeless child or sad subject roaming the city streets at night. Evidence exists that “urchin” was used in the late 1680s to refer to poor children, but Dickens, in the 19th century, was one of the first writers to popularize slang in his writing. It may be that street children, or small mischievous boys in particular, appeared cute and prickly, or that the unkempt hair of poor street children haphazardly chopped off to eliminate various vermin might have somewhat resembled a hedgehog.
Although it’s not clear why waifish children became known as urchins, it’s straightforward why the prickly animals came to be called hedgehogs. The hedgehog’s favorite hunting ground and habitats are thick hedges where they make grunting sounds like a pig as they snuffle though shrubbery in search of their favorite insects to eat. There are no living species of hedgehogs native to America, and while hedgehogs have long been considered a beloved part of English culture, they are considered an invasive species in New Zealand.
