pigtail

English

A young girl with pigtails.

Etymology

From pig +‎ tail.

Pronunciation

(UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈpɪɡ.teɪl/

Noun

pigtail (plural pigtails)

Tobacco twisted into a string or roll. [from 17th c.]
- 1828, JT Smith, Nollekens and His Times, Century Hutchinson 1986, p. 265:
  One person […] continued constantly to ply him with the very best pig-tail tobacco, which he had most carefully cut in very small pieces purposely for him.
A braided plait of hair; now especially, either of two braids or "tails" on the side of the head. [from 18th c.]
- 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, OCLC 1167497017:
  Such a filthy spectacle as we presented I have never seen before or since, and it will perhaps give some idea of the almost superhuman dignity of Billali's appearance when I say that, coughing, half-drowned, and covered with mud and green slime as he was, with his beautiful beard coming to a dripping point, like a Chinaman's freshly-oiled pig-tail, he still looked venerable and imposing.
- 2000, Bill Oddie, Gripping Yarns, page 12:
  [I]t was something that every schoolboy of my generation almost `had' to do, as obligatory a proof of impending manliness as scrumping apples or pulling girls' pigtails.
(informal) A person who wears a pigtail or queue.
- [2021 October 26, Peter Baker, “The Case Against Winston Churchill”, in The New York Times‎, ISSN 0362-4331:
  […] Chinese, whom he called “pigtails”; or Indians, whom he dismissed as “baboos.”]
(electrical engineering) A short length of twisted electrical wire. [from 20th c.]
Synonym: tail
The flamingo flower (anthurium)
The tail of a pig.
(medicine) Twisted stent terminal; stent-end, usually but not necessarily a different fastened part.

Translations

braided plait of hair

Arabic:
Egyptian Arabic: توكتين‎ f pl (tuktén)
Bashkir: толом (tolom)
Bulgarian: плитка f (plitka)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 辮子／辫子 (zh) (biànzi)
Finnish: letti (fi)
French: tresse (fr) f, natte (fr) f
Galician: cerceta f, cogoteira f
German: Zopf (de) m
Hungarian: copf (hu)
Italian: codino (it) m
Japanese: 御下げ (おさげ, osage), 御下げ髪 (おさげがみ, osagegami) (tied over the shoulder); ツインテール (tsuintēru) (tied at each side of the head)
Korean: 피그테일 (pigeuteil)
Macedonian: пле́тенка f (plétenka)
Polish: warkoczyk (pl) m, warkocz (pl) m, kucyk (pl) m
Portuguese: trança (pt) f
Romani: chunra f
Russian: коси́чка (ru) f (kosíčka), коса́ (ru) f (kosá), хво́стик (ru) m (xvóstik) ("little tail", colloquial)
Spanish: coleta (es) f, trenza (es) f
Swedish: råttsvans
Tagalog: trintas, tirintas (tl)
Welsh: plethyn m

either of two braids or ponytails

Bashkir: толом (tolom)
Bulgarian: плитка f (plitka)
Czech: culík (unbraided)
Finnish: saparo (fi)
French: couette (fr) f
Galician: cerceta f, cogoteira f
German: Haarzopf m, Zöpfchen n
Macedonian: пле́тенка f (plétenka), ко́сичка f (kósička)
Portuguese: maria-chiquinha (pt) f, chiquinha f
Russian: коси́чка (ru) f (kosíčka)
Spanish: coleta (es) f
Swedish: tofs (sv) c, råttsvans c, pippilott c

twisted piece of tobacco

Bulgarian: тютюн за дъвчене (tjutjun za dǎvčene)

cable

German: Anschlussdraht m, Anschlussfaser f

flamingo flower — see flamingo flower

tail of a pig