v. Now Sc. Forms: 1 þicg(e)an, 2 þigg(i)en, 3–5 thigge, 3–8 thigg, 4–5 thygg, 5–6 thyg, (6 thige), 4– thig. [OE. þicg(e)an, þeah, þáh-, þǽʓon, þeʓen to take, esp. as food; also as a weak vb., pa. t. þiʓ(e)de. ME. thigge, a. ON. þiggja, þá-, þǫgum, þágum, þegen to receive (Sw. tigga, Da. tigge to beg); cf. OS. thiggian to beg, OHG. dikken, etc. (MHG. digen) to beg;:—OTeut. *þigjan (with j suffix as in *ligjan LIE v.1, *sitjan SIT v.), f. root *þig-: þag- : þǣg- :—Indo-Eur. *tegh : togh- : tēgh.
The OE. vb., which would have given thidge or perh. thie, thy in mod. Eng. (cf. LIE, SAY), was lost a. 1150, and its place was taken in the north by the Norse form, with modification of sense.)
† 1. trans. To take, receive, accept; esp. to take (food), to consume by eating or drinking.
a. 864. O. E. Chron., an. 755 (Parker MS.). And hiera se æþeling ʓehwelcum feoh and feorh ʓebead and hiera næniʓ hit ʓeþicgean [Laud MS. c. 1100 þicgan] nolde.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Mark vii. 5. Hwi … þine leorning-cnihtas … besmitenum handum hyra hlaf þicgað [c. 1160 Hatton Gosp., þiggieð].
c. 1000. Sax. Lecchd., III. 92. Þiʓe þar of anne cuppan fulle on ærne morʓe and oþerne an niht.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 105. Temperantia þet is metnesse on englisc, þet mon beo imete on alle þing and to muchel ne þigge on ete and on wete.
2. To receive by begging; to beg (alms, one’s food, etc.); in mod. Sc., to solicit gifts on special occasions, esp. on setting up housekeeping, etc.: cf. THIGGING vbl. sb. quots. 1827, 1872.
c. 1300. Havelok, 1373. He haueth me do[n] mi mete to thigge, And ofte in sorwe and pine ligge.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xxiv. (Alexis), 169. [He] Ilke day thigyt his lyf-led.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 13549. Now me bus, as a beggar, my bred for to thigge.
1561. Maitl. Club Misc., III. 282. My brother is and salbe Vicar of Crayll quhen thow sal thyg thy mayt fals smayk.
1887. J. Service, Dr. Duguid, III. iv. 262. He gaed to the gaits’ hoose to thig ’oo’ [= wool].
1894. P. H. Hunter, J. Inwick, xi. 145. Syne thig a’ they can get aff the pairish.
b. intr. To beg, cadge.
a. 1300. E. E. Psalter cviii. [cix.] 10. Drecchand his sones be outborne awai, And thigg mote þai, night and dai.
c. 1470. Henryson, Mor. Fab., IV. (Fox’s Conf.) xiv. I eschame to thig, I can not wirk.
1665. J. Fraser, Polichron. (S.H.S.), 281. I will not goe begg nor thigs amongst my friends.
1818. Scott, Rob Roy, xxvi. Lang-legged Hieland gillies that … maun gang thigging and sorning about on their acquaintance. Note. Thigging and sorning was a kind of genteel begging, or rather something between begging and robbing, by which the needy in Scotland used to extort cattle, or the means of subsistence, from those who had any to give.
1895. Crockett, Men of Moss-Hags, 166. Ye see it’s treason to hae sic a thing, and rank conspiracy to thig and barter to get it back.
c. trans. To take, borrow (as a quotation).
1728. Ramsay, Epist. to D. Forbes, xi. I’ll frae a Frenchman thigg a fable, And busk it in a plaid. Ibid. (1728), Adv. to Mr.—— on his Marriage, 22. And blaw ye up with windy fancies, That he has thigit frae romances.
† 3. To crave, request, ask (a boon, a favor, leave); in quot. c. 14702 with the person as obj. Obs.
c. 1450. St. Cuthbert (Surtees), 3565. Bot of thi grace we thyg To vouche safe with us to ligg.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, II. 260. Scho … thyggyt leiff away with him to fayr.
c. 1470. Henryson, Mor. Fab., IX. (Wolf & Fox), xiii. Thocht we wald thig ȝone verray Churlische chuf, He will not gif vs ane hering of his Creill.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, VII. x. 75. Thay thyg vengence at the goddis.
a. 1568. Balnaves, in Bannatyne Poems (Hunter. Cl.), 391. To tar and tig, syne grace to thig, That is ane petouss preiss.
b. intr. Obs.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, l. (Katerine), 1144. Graunt þaim þar bowne, I thig at þe.
a. 1578. Lindesay, Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.), I. 125. They war faine to thige and cry for peace.
Hence Thig sb., begging, mendicancy.
1898. Blackw. Mag., July, 82/1. Master Brown sat … studying through horn specks the tale of thig and theft which the own officer had made up a report on.
