Etymology Map
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Bog

2 stages from Irish to English.

Today it means wet, spongy ground of decaying plant matter; (British slang) a toilet

Where does the word "bog" come from? It comes from Irish bogach, adopted directly into English (1500s).

1
Stage 1 of 2
bogach
Irish · medieval
"soft wet ground"
from bog 'soft'; peat bog, like the vast Bog of Allen in the Irish midlands, once covered about a sixth of Ireland
2
Stage 2 of 2
bog
English · 1500s
"wet spongy ground"
taken into English during the Tudor wars in Ireland; bogs preserve 'bog bodies' such as Clonycavan Man, an Iron Age man found in County Meath in 2003
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Bog’s story begins in Irish: bogach meant “soft wet ground.” From bog 'soft'; peat bog, like the vast Bog of Allen in the Irish midlands, once covered about a sixth of Ireland. It reached English by 1500s as bog. Taken into English during the Tudor wars in Ireland; bogs preserve 'bog bodies' such as Clonycavan Man, an Iron Age man found in County Meath in 2003. Today, bog means wet, spongy ground of decaying plant matter; (British slang) a toilet.